The Jaded Series Year I
by OblivionsPuppet
Summary: He was not anyone's hero, he would not be their symbol. He had his own ambitions, he had his own goals. Harry James Potter was going to live his life according to his own rules and what was best for him. What will the first year of Hogwarts will hold?
1. Forged By Fire

**_A/N I'm afraid due to circumstances regarding one of my previous stories my account was shutdown, I've decided to repost this story under a new name. Anyway I've fixed a few minor formatting problems and will have the second chapter out soon. I truly hope you will all review and enjoy my story._**

**Jaded Year I**

**_Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone_**

**_Prologue_**

The rays of an early morning sun were floating through the windows of Number 4 Privet Drive. Dawn had just broken and the world seemed to be in a rare moment of tranquility and peacefulness. With a content sigh, Petunia Dursley dressed in only her bathrobe headed for the front door to retrieve the morning newspaper for her darling husband.

So per here usual routine she opened the door expecting a soft chill, and the morning newspaper patiently awaiting her on the front step. So used to the established routine it took her a few seconds to recognize that something was amiss, for waiting on the front step was a small wicker basket.

Surprise and confusion were soon replaced with annoyance as she regarded the foreign object with wariness; she reached down and carefully tried to feel out the contents of the basket. When her hand brushed against something warm and soft she instantly pulled away in alarm.

The texture was quite unmistakable to her; it was the softness that only a new born child could possess. Although the question why there was a young baby on her doorstep was something which was ringing through Petunia Dursley's mind. Yet Petunia Dursley's highly tuned snooping senses were beginning to stir, other respectable people of Little Whinging were beginning to rise and she knew they were all to nosy to keep their big fat noses from trying to discern what was happening on the Dursley's front step.

The fear of being thought to be doing something unsavory was the primary motivator for snatching up the wicker basket and hastily slamming the front door shut with a loud thud. Not even bothering to remember to grab the newspaper, Petunia strode into the kitchen and hastily deposited the basket none too gently onto the kitchen table.

"How dare you!" The outraged statement was directed at the wicker basket with a tone of outrage and accusation, no one was around to point out the ludicrousness of trying to blame a sleeping baby of any type of mal intent but still it was the only course of action Petunia could think to do.

The more Petunia did stare at the offensive basket the more her curiosity began to slowly stir, she wondered what it looked like and truly hoped no one had decided to leave a little Niger or chink on her doorstep. With a deliberate slowness she reached up and began to peal away the silk blanket.

Her face which showed a mix of annoyance and general curiosity which quickly vanished to be replaced with a disgusted horror. She immediately saw the beginnings of the baby's dark unruly ebony locks and the hauntingly familiar emerald orbs of her sister.

A surprised feeling seem to be on the edge of a tidal wave of jealousy, she had always been jealous of her sisters immense beauty, long red flaming hair and contrast by her perfect pale skin and those brilliantly green emerald orbs which were a stark contrast to Petunia's muddy earthy brown.

Despite how much Petunia wished to deny it and she valiantly did the truth just shone through plain as day, this child seemed too inherent her sisters immense beauty but in the form of a male handsomeness. Petunia knew that he would grow up to be a male version of her sister, so unnaturally good looking it would be the norm for him and he would be probably completely indifferent to it.

The injustice of it all was almost to much to bear, her darling son was cute but in a portly way and Petunia had a sneaking suspicion on he might grow up to be rather heavy set like his father. Yet here comes along her sister's child to seemingly shove into her face that even her sisters offspring would be far better looking their her own offspring.

"You filthy little rodent!" Her screech echoed throughout the house and left her feeling some what vindicated, her parents had always stopped her from insulting Lily but here no one could stop her from putting this little bastard in his proper place.

"Petunia love what's going on?" Petunia glanced over to see the familiar bulk of her large heavy set husband; his eyes scanned the room and immediately located the foreign object.

"My inconsiderate bitch of a sister and her lout of a husband have some how gotten themselves killed with their unnaturalness, and left their bastard offspring on our doorstep!" The information that her sister had been killed had been found out by reading a small note attached to the basket.

"I won't have one of those "things" infecting my son!" Vernon Dursley's face was beginning to take on a more dark purplish hue and his breathing was beginning to grow strained and erratic.

"Vernon please calm down or you'll hurt yourself." It took many minutes of coaxing from his wife before Vernon began to breathe normally, but his face still held a purplish tinge and his eyes were locked on the wicker basket.

"We can give it up, we can leave it in some alley near London but we are not keeping that thing." His voice was barely audible whisper but every syllable was filled with hate and loathing.

"Vernon we may not have a choice you don't know my sisters freakish friends, they're evil Vernon and they can do horrible unnatural things." Vernon Dursley seemed unfazed at the thought of having to deal with some wand and dress wearing fairy.

"What if they try to hurt Dudley?" It was a desperate ploy but Petunia knew it might just work, Dudley was Vernon's little pride and joy and any threat to him might force Vernon to give into his stubborn pride.

"They wouldn't dare." Yet Vernon's own voice didn't sound quite so assured as it had merely a few seconds ago, he knew those unnatural people were truly the scum of the earth and would think little about torturing such a helpless little angel like his own Dudley.

"We have to Vernon, to protect our son we must let it stay here." Petunia was inwardly jumping with joy, as her husband with slumped shoulders nodded gravely she knew it was finally time she could get revenge on her sister.

_**10 Years Later**_

It just didn't seem fair to her, had she not labored for the first few years to make sure that disgusting little ingrate stayed cleaned and healthy? Didn't she also make sure that Dudley had learned to stay as far away from his cousin as soon as possible? Hadn't she spent time to come up with brilliant plans to make that little bastard grow to be nothing but a worthless little testament to what her sister really was?

Instead her attempts at turning the child into what she wanted seemed to backfire, it first happened when she refused to allow Harry to ever watch TV unlike his cousin. Instead she bought him books in the hope of making him completely miserable at being forced to do something as boring as reading.

It had the exact opposite effect she intended or desired Harry took to books with the gusto which her son took to food. He seemed to just as intelligent as his mother but even more so, it seemed so unnatural how fast he could read through a book and remember every exact detail with perfect clarification.

She had done her best to stop her nephew from continuing to read but it seemed hopeless, Vernon didn't even want to see the boy when he was home, so he had plenty of time each night and plus Vernon was insistent she keep buying him books to keep the "freak" entertained.

So it seemed like all attempts at her keeping her nephew stupid were doomed to failure. The next injustice she felt was the fact as she predicted the boy was growing to be more handsome every year. She did everything that she could think of, she barely fed him anything and when she did feed him it was usually something quite disgusting or expired.

Yet it looked to have absolutely no effect on the boy, he appeared properly well nourished and cared for and grew at a steady pace. The most embarrassing times were when some visitors to the house actually saw the two children residing within the Dursley home.

They would always fawn over Harry and tell Petunia how handsome he was, they would of course say the same comments about Dudley but she knew they lied. She could see it in their eyes; she of course now made it a top priority to make sure the boy was never seen by guests entering her home.

So it was without a never ending feeling of injustice Petunia Dursley continued to try and destroy her nephew. Little did she know that all of her actions would have a lasting effect on young Harry.

**Chapter 1**

**_Forged By Fire_**

A terrible shrill like voice seemed to echo throughout the residence of Number 4 Privet Drive, the particular target of this verbal barrage was a young boy. He stood about 5'3 with bright emerald eyes and short unruly ebony hair; his features seemed to compliment his face very well and gave him a natural aura of charm.

He was currently in the midst of examining himself in the mirror with a critical eye; he had just gotten out of a long leisurely hot shower and was in the midst of observing the changes to himself. He had began to notice the changes a few months back but it seemed to be getting more pronounced with each passing month.

His shoulders were beginning to broaden and his voice also beginning to become altered, and he was also beginning to grow hair in places which quite frankly there had never been hair before. Of course he had long since found an explanation which would account for all the changes but what wondered him was the timing.

"Puberty for a ten year old?" His tone seemed to be amused and intrigued all at the same time. Harry knew that some teenagers had puberty very early but such radical changes at such a young age?

"Am I that in a hurry to shag?" The rhetorical statement caused Harry to give himself a ghost of a smile.

"Hmm… maybe it's a physiological reaction to some subconscious need of mine to reflect a maturity on the outside that I feel I have attained on the inside?" Harry was vaguely aware he was asking these questions allowed but that was just a personal quirk of his.

"Nah more likely my subconscious wants me to shag." With a soft chuckle Harry began his usual hygiene routine, after following his relatively normal routine and finishing up by styling his hair with gel Harry headed for his room down the hallway.

He might have considered it a stroke of luck his relatives had allowed him to make Dudley's toy room into his own room, but more likely it was because he had threatened to call child services. His Uncle had bellowed and blundered and called him everything under the sun but in the end he had grudgingly agreed.

So when Harry opened the door to his room he was greeted with an all too familiar but pleasant scent, it was the smell of an early morning breeze courtesy of his open bedroom window. Harry's eyes flicked over to the bedroom clock and mentally berated himself for taking so long in the shower.

It was already 6:45 and he was about ten minutes over his usual schedule, he usually got up at five every-morning to run five miles and be back in time to take a decent shower. His relatives usually didn't start rising till around seven and he preferred to be gone by then.

He quickly got dressed in a pair of faded but comfortable blue jeans and a white t-shirt, Harry's sense of style was more of his personal tastes then what was influenced by current fashion trends. He finished off the look with a dark hoody which was just a size to big for him but he liked the look.

He checked over himself one last time in the mirror before strolling out of the room and absentmindedly grabbing a duffle bag that was waiting on the edge of his bed. With a well rehearsed routine he slipped downstairs effortlessly and quietly before slipping out of the front door and beginning his usual walk downtown.

The entire walk only took about twenty-five minutes and he really didn't mind it all that much, Harry liked physical activity even the more passive kind and it gave him time to think. Mostly he just planned out what his day was going to be like and what he hoped to accomplish.

He stopped at a small placed aptly named "_The Little Whinging Café", _he knew the name of the café was hardly something from the mind of a literary geniuses but it suited him well enough. He strolled into his usual booth in the back where he usually enjoyed his morning breakfast.

The waitress was a welcomed familiar sight, her name was Julie and for some odd reason she always seemed to be the one who came to take his order. He didn't really mind that all that much, she was a pretty enough girl with wide brown eyes and full luscious lips that most men couldn't help but want to kiss.

"The usual Harry?" He gave her one of his rare smiles and nodded in the affirmative.

"Yeah Julie the usual please and thank you." She acknowledged his gratefulness with a smile and wink.

Harry dug into his duffle bag and searched around for a second before his hand finally landed on the spine of a particularly well worn looking small brown leather book. He pulled out the book and opened it to a dog eared page and began reading the non-English text.

It was an instruction book that teaches Attic Greek, the language was not very well known around the world but it held a historical significance which Harry appreciated. It was the language spoken by some of the greatest philosophers in history including Aristotle.

Harry already knew Latin, French and German with the ability to get by in Russian if he had to do so, he quite liked learning new languages but then again he liked learning in general so maybe that was a moot point. He continued reading and was barely aware that Julie had brought his breakfast.

When he did realize that she had brought it he quickly put the book away and began eating, as he ate Harry thought about what he was going to be doing most of the day. He figured he might as well just head back to Privet Drive and continue reading his book about Attic Greek; he had nothing better to do as he thought about it.

With a rather tasty breakfast finally ate Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out five ten pound notes, he put them on the table as a tip and quickly stood up heading for the door. As he walked out of the diner he awaited the usual surprised squeak as Julie discovered the rather large tip.

It wasn't his money that was being wasted so he felt no real moral dilemma about blowing his uncles money in such a fashion and he couldn't think of anyone who could use it more then a struggling girl through college. Harry just wished he could leave a little more but he operated on a very strict budget which left little in the way of overzealous spending.

He walked back to Privet Drive in a more brisk pace then when he left it, he was eager to get back to his reading and hope to sneak in without the usual game of twenty-questions on where he had been or when he had left followed by the usual remarks about his parents himself and generally how he is was somehow going to unhinge the entire fabric of society with his "freakiness", what type of freakiness he had never seemed to be pointed out though.

As Harry slipped silently through the front door he could hear his aunt and uncle speaking in the kitchen, normally this wouldn't concern Harry to much but this time he caught little bits and pieces that peeked his interest.

"Vernon you said you had burned that trunk!" His aunt's shrill like voice seemed to be tense but laced with worry.

"Petunia my sweet I just didn't have time, I promise tonight I will torch it." Harry prepared to head upstairs a little curious as to what exactly his uncle seemed so keen on destroying.

"I don't want anything of my sister or her bastard husband left in my house Vernon Dursley!" Harry's head snapped around at this statement, he was frozen in his place as relatives discussed something which seemed to be related to his parents.

"Petunia my dear the trunk is safely tucked away downstairs and will be in the same place tonight, you have nothing to worry about I promise." With something that sounded revoltingly like a kiss his uncle strolled out of the kitchen, he didn't see Harry who was standing at the top of the stairs his mind formulating a plan on how to get his aunt away from the house so he could retrieve his parent's items.

With a final decision Harry dug into his pocket pulling out the last bit of his stolen money, it was roughly about two hundred pounds and he hoped it would be enough to entice the more greedy part of his aunt. Harry took a second to compose himself and then strolled into the kitchen with a casual expression on his face and the wad of notes clearly out in the open.

With an alarming speed his aunt had crossed the room and snatched the wad of notes from his hand, her greedy mud brown eyes was looking at the money reverently but also casting Harry suspicious looks. Harry feigned annoyance at having the money snatched from his hand like that.

"Where did you get this money freak?" Harry noted with distain she seemed more focused on the cash then him judging by the fact her tone didn't care the usual extreme loathing it normally did.

"Uncle Vernon just said to give you that money; he said you could go shopping for that new dress you wanted." This was a calculated lie, Harry knew his aunt needed little reason to spend money on a shopping spree but it helped give more credence to the lie itself.

"How thoughtful of him, me and my little Dudders are going to the mall and while were gone I want you to stay in your room freak." Harry made like he intended to argue but after something that he guest his aunt thought was an intimating glare he made a hasty retreat toward his room.

It was so simple, it was rather pathetic really. To think that she could be so easily mislead with a wad full of money and then just turn around and trust him not to go anywhere but his room. She was blinded by greed and anything else was of a secondary priority.

Which Harry had counted on, soon when he saw his aunt's car pull out of the drive he sprinted down the stairs and towards the basement his heart pounding wildly. Harry had never been able to even see a picture of his parents or to even know their real names and now that the chance to get all of that and more was like a dream come true.

With a casual flick of the light switch Harry walked slowly down the basement stairs, despite his aunts almost obsessing need for cleanliness the basement was filthy. There were many different boxes stacked haphazardly throughout the basement and from his initial scan Harry didn't see anything remotely resembling a trunk.

A little disheartened Harry began a more thorough examination, as he searched long and didn't find anything he felt the anger and hopelessness of the situation begin to stir within him. Harry had to take a minute and compose himself less he fall victim to a pack of utterly useless emotions.

After a couple of deep steadying breathes he quickly returned to the task at hand. Yet soon he had gone through the entire downstairs to no avail and all he had to show for it was a lot of collected dust on himself. With a rare display of emotion Harry cursed vehentemly and kicked the nearest box.

While it did seem to relieve some of his pent up stress, kicking the box caused a large cloud of dust to be kicked up into the air and causing Harry to cough loudly with the added effect of mass amounts of profanity. When the dust did finally begin to settle Harry made straight for the stairs.

It was only some type of shining he spotted out of the corner of his eye which made him stop and turn to examine it closer. Seemingly buried underneath the box was a large red cheery oak trunk, Harry guessed the box must have been on top of it and fell after he kicked it.

Feeling rightly ashamed of himself for loosing control like that Harry walked over to examine the trunk closer; oddly it seemed to be in good condition with no traces of dust or scratches on any part of the surface. Although normally this might have seemed odd to Harry he was too distracted with thoughts of finally finding out something about his parents.

_**LE.&J.P.**_

Immediately different names began to spring to Harry's mind but those thoughts were soon pushed away, he tentatively reached down and unlatched the trunk. With a slow and steady reverence Harry opened the trunk and prayed that it would contain something which would give him some information about his parents past.

The immediate first thing he saw was also something which froze him in his place, it was a small picture resting atop a letter that he figured had been placed there to ensure it would be the first thing he saw when he opened the trunk. The picture had a beautiful woman with long flowing red hair and bright emerald eyes similar to his own, a man with unruly ebony locks much like his own was standing with an arm around the woman.

"Mum… Dad?" It was a silent statement but Harry knew it had to be true; they were just too many similar physical features between them and himself.

Harry was not quite sure how long he sat there staring at the pictures of his dead parents or how long it took him to realize something was amiss. Then it finally clicked into place, and Harry involuntarily jerked back from the trunk. His parent's photos were waving at him and he was quite sure that photos didn't usually do that.

Almost wondering if he had somehow imagined it Harry cautiously peeked back into the trunk at the picture. Now he was sure he was not delirious or seeing things because there his parents were furiously waving at him. Harry vaguely considered that maybe it was a special photograph but then again it had to at least over ten years old.

Harry just didn't know anything about photo development circa the 1980's so maybe it was possible to make a moving photograph. Well obviously he chided himself, determined to find out how exactly his parents had managed that little feat he took one last look at the photograph before setting it aside to reveal a letter simply marked _Harry_.

With the trembling hands Harry broke the seal and pulled out a note.

_Dear Harry,_

_If you're reading this my darling then I'm sorry to say I've failed you as a mother and I have been killed. I hope you'll forgive me for not being there as you grow up but remember I will always love you._ _There is so much I wish to tell you and share with you but I'm afraid our time grows shorter._

_If Albus… I mean Dumbledore does what I thing he will despite our wishes then you would have been raised by my sister. I shudder to think of the childhood you've have had to endure but I know you'll make it. The first thing I want to say is that no matter what you do or whatever happens I will love you my darling so never doubt that._

_Now if I know my sister then she'd have never told you about your true heritage or what you really are. I know you would have been raised with a strict sense of what is "normal" and I know that this will be hard for you believe yet you must. You're a wizard my darling._

_I know you my darling; you'd have grown up to be a smart boy like your father and so naturally you will be skeptical. Magic is real my darling and I don't need you to just take my word on that. Inside this trunk which I might add is a family heirloom on your father's side is everything we think you'd need to help explain it better._

_I'm afraid that is all I can write my darling, I shall now hand it over to your father as he is quite eager to leave some of his own "wisdom" for you behind. Remember that your mother will always love you and I shall be waiting to greet my baby boy on the other side._

_Dear Harry,_

_If you reading this then I guess I've gone and kicked the bucket (ow…I was to being sensitive) your mother has quite the fiery temper. (ow) Anyway I first want to let you that I will always love you Harry and nothing will ever change that, well it might if you decide to support the Chudley Cannons (ow.. just a bit of a joke!) but even then son I promise I shall always love you._

_Now I know that Dumbledore will not follow our wishes, I won't tell you how to feel about that Harry because I want you to make up your own opinion about things but remember he always has the best of intentions. Now I'm pretty sure you're very skeptical about being a wizard but I can quite assure you it's true._

_Also when I say wizard I don't mean what those crazy muggles call magic, honestly what the hell are all the candles they use for? (ow.. No I'm not teaching him bad language!) Anyway your mum wants to remind you to keep a civil tongue. Now back to business, magic is real and yes there is an entire secret hidden world._

_Since I know you'll be just as brilliant as your mum I know you'll be just a little skeptical and that is why I ask you to just keep an open mind as you explore the contents of this trunk. I've taken the liberty o leaving a couple little notes at different places to help explain things._

_Well son with that being said I'm afraid it's time for me to say goodbye and hopefully tuck this letter away to someplace it shall never be seen again. If by chance I did somehow managed to get turned into fertilizer (ow.. No I'm not stunting his mental development with a little humor!") Then I just want you to remember I love you and to always follow your own course my son._

_With all of our eternal (gee that's a long time.. Ow!) love,_

_James and Lilly Potter _

_(No I don't think I'm ruining a personal letter to our son by injecting a little humor… OW!) _

Harry couldn't help but smile at the last sentence, his father had from even beyond the grave managed to bring a smile to his face. Yet that didn't chance the fact about what his parents had just revealed to him, either they were involved in the occult or something else.

He didn't know why they would believe that magic was real but the tone of their letter seemed to imply they thought they had left enough evidence to convince him in the trunk. He set the letter down carefully along side the picture and then turned his attention the contents of the box.

There were many different books stacked neatly on the bottom and on top of the books were two thin boxes, Harry tentatively picked up the shorter box and opened it up. It was a long thin piece of willow which Harry estimated to be about ten inches long.

It was highly polished and Harry noticed upon closer examination it had small very meticulous golden runes carved lightly into the wood trailing up each side. He didn't really have to spend a large amount of time guessing what it was suppose to be, he knew that this was supposed to be some sort of magical wand.

How an intelligent woman like his mother could be duped into believing that this piece of wood while a very nice looking piece of wood but wood all the same could give her magical powers he was not sure. With a sigh he reached down and grasps the wand in hand.

A surge of warmth spread throughout Harry's entire body to the very tips of his fingers, he felt different somehow like an unknown strength lay at his finger tips yet he just couldn't use it. He was looking at the wand in shock as his mind was furiously trying to come up with a rational explanation.

Yet there was none… he just couldn't find some way to explain what the hell was going on with him. First he saw a picture of his parents actually _waving_ at him! Next there was the fact that this stick had somehow made him feel like he had drunk an entire glass of hot chocolate.

So either there was more to meet the eye about what his parents were saying or this was the most elaborate practical joke in the history of joking. Either way he quickly realized he needed to make a more careful examination of the contents of this trunk.

With this in mind he quickly put the letter and photo back inside and closed the trunk. He needed to get it back to his room or run the risk of his aunt coming home and discovering what he was doing. With this in mind Harry quickly picked up the trunk and headed for the upstairs.

As he lugged the large trunk up the stairs the loud squeak of a stopping mini-van froze Harry in his place, he didn't expect his aunt to be home so fast or maybe he just hadn't realized how long he had been downstairs. Either way he knew his aunt was soon going to burst inside the house and find Harry was nowhere near his room.

Harry didn't waste anytime as he redoubled his efforts at hauling the trunk up the stairs; he heard the mini-van doors slam shut just as he entered the kitchen. With a string of curses Harry ran to the bottom of the stairs and began his ascent upwards, he was half-way up there when he heard the front door open.

Gathering his last vestiges of strength Harry flew up the stairs with the trunk and then scrambled into his room. He quickly slammed the door shut and let out a sigh of relief. His aunt's shrill voice could be heard echoing from downstairs but all that concerned him was that the trunk was safe.

"Get down here and get my bags freak!" With an annoyed sigh Harry lifted the trunk under his bed and headed downstairs to play slave labor to his aunt.

"No food for you tonight freak, when I say come I mean come." His aunt spent the next several minutes screaming obscenities at him before directing Harry to bring her bags in. Harry did without question or his usual smart remark; he just wanted to get back to the trunk.

It took him twenty long grueling minutes before he had finished bringing in all his aunt's packages. He was amazed she had managed to buy so much with the two-hundred measly pounds he had given her. Not really wanting to ponder the issue anymore Harry retreated back to his room gladly willing to forgo lunch or dinner.

After dragging a chair over to ensure himself a little privacy, Harry opened the trunk with the full intent of sorting the contents of it. Yet a small piece of parchment drew his attention, it was taped to a book whose title he couldn't quite make out but the distinct scrawl of his father he easily recognized.

_Read this book first Harry it will explain everything you need to know._

_Love Dad,_

Harry quietly pulled away the note to reveal the title of the book, _"A Muggles Guide To The Wizarding World"_. Harry hesitantly picked up the book and opened to the first page. If his father thought this book might help him understand some things then Harry was ready to give him the benefit of the doubt.

* * *

The next few hours were the most enlightening and utterly confusing of Harry's life. It wasn't easy for an intelligent person to learn that he had been wrong about so many things before. The book's title while stupid was not an indicator about the content of what was inside.

The book was a virtual goldmine of information, it explained some of the basic facts about the wizarding world and talked about some of the basic knowledge one would need to survive in it. It included chapters on wands and also other information someone might need to know if they were just entering the wizarding world.

All in all it was a very eye opening but confusing read, while it helped answer many of his questions it just didn't provide the definitive proof his stubbornly rational mind demanded. So with a grim determination Harry pulled out his mums willow wand from the trunk.

He figured the only way to prove it was to try and do a little bit of magic, the book had described the ban on underage magic but had stressed that accidental releases of magic by a minor who had not attended school would not be prosecuted. Harry hoped that if he actually did do a spell that it would just be written off.

It took a minute for Harry to dig around and find the book he was looking for, "_The Standard Book of Spell Grade 1 By Miranda Goshawk"_. He had read that one of the most very basic spells was a simple levitation charm; he figured it would help provide the conclusive proof he needed.

It took him a couple of minutes of flipping through the book before he found the appropriate page, Harry spent the next twenty minutes practicing the swish and flick motion while making sure he could pronounce the name of the spell perfectly. Finally deciding it was now or never he stood up laying the book on the bed.

"**_Wingardium Leviosa." _**Harry swished and flicked the wand exactly as he had seen in the book, he watched a few seconds in hesitant disappointment but let out a whoop of glee when he saw the book slowly hover a few inches of the bed.

He felt a wave of awe rush over him as he watched the book hover off the bed. All of the lingering doubts in his mind seemed to fade into nothing. He was a wizard and now he had all the conclusive proof he would require, he hardly even noticed he spent the majority of an hour just learning how to be control the levitation spell.

It was fascinating to watch the book flying all across the room seemingly defying all the accepted laws of gravity, Harry finally realized that he was going to have to set the book down. The problem though was he didn't realize how to shut the spell off, it took another ten minutes of searching for him to come up with the spell.

"**_Finite Incantatem_**." The book stopped fly in midair and dropped to the ground with a thud, a wide grin splitting his face Harry picked up the book and set it back inside the trunk.

Harry although eager to continue knew that it was getting rather late, he still had a rather long run in the morning and was determined not to break his normal routine simply because he found out he was a wizard. With reluctant acceptance Harry packed the books and wand back into the trunk and slid it under his bed.

It almost didn't hit him how tired he was before he slipped off his cloths and sank into bed. With the final act of setting his alarm clock Harry drifted off to sleep.

* * *

It was peaceful in a way he admitted to himself, sorting the different magical texts into their respective piles and just generally relaxing. It had been exactly a week since he had finally accepted that he was truly a wizard and the next several days had been spent organizing different items from the trunk or just generally practicing a few spells.

One thing that became apparent as Harry sorted the books was that his parents maybe had not expected him to find the truck so early in his life. Most of the magical texts were too advanced for him or he lacked the basic knowledge to even comprehend some of their instructions.

He knew it would be foolish to attempt advanced magic without having a proper gasp of the basics, Harry wanted a good solid base to build his magical skills on and was leery of trying more magic without one. This meant Harry was going to have to buy some more books, actually a lot more books he reminded himself.

He knew the place where most wizarding folk from The United Kingdom shop was at Diagon Alley and he had a rough idea of where he could enter it from London. Yet without wizarding money it would be an exercise in futility and just a waste of his time.

He had thought maybe his parents had left him a little money to help get established in the wizarding world but he hadn't found any trace of anything like that yet. So that was why he was currently going through every book looking for any signs his parents had left him an inheritance.

He had started the process a couple hours ago with a little bit of hope but was now far more pessimistic, so it was annoyed reluctance he held the last book from the trunk in his hand. It was a small well worn leather book; it didn't even have a title to indicate what exactly it was.

So with a weariness of wanting to be done with this otherwise complete waste of time he opened the book to the first page. Well it wasn't the usual text which read like gibberish to Harry, in fact there was no text per say at all. The pages were perfectly blank and didn't look like they had ever been written on.

It was pure luck that Harry got the text as it began to appear on the page as he was shutting the book. He was stunned into silence as entire lines and pages filled up with text magically with the book still in his hand. It only took a few seconds for him to shake himself out of his stupor as he scanned the title.

"The Potter Ledger." He couldn't help but read it out loud, as he began to scan the text he was surprised to see different charts and graphs all neatly laid out.

It took him near ten minutes of going over the different pages before he began to really grasp what he was holding, it was some sort of magical financial planner for his family. The book contained details account records from all the different investments and business owned by the Potter family.

There were account balances and copies of deeds to pieces of real estate that were owned by the Potter family, and one recurring theme was that his name was listed as owning all the different properties and business plus being the soil heir to the Potter family fortune.

He was surprisingly calm considering he was discovering that he was currently worth hundreds of millions of galleons. That was not even counting the three hundred million in muggle pounds spread out among various banks or factoring in the properties or business he owned.

The thought of trying to get an exact concrete number on how much he was worth with properties and all was enough to make him get a headache. Well in a random thought he wouldn't have to worry about money anymore. This was proceeding by him promptly fainting.

* * *

­­­­­­­­­­­"_So I'm a bloody millionaire… well that's nice to know."_ This was the first thought to circle around Harry's mind as he woke up but the second thought made him smile vindictively.

"_So now I've got the tools to get revenge." _With that thought echoing loudly and clearly in his mind Harry began to plan his venture into Diagon Alley.


	2. Heritage Claimed

**_A/N I'm well aware of how long this update has taken, mostly it's due to this chapter. I've done my best to make this chapter interesting but it's the nexts couple of chapters which will truly set the pace for this story. I hope you will return and read future chapters, which I feel will be far better. Also I'm in the market for a beta, if you are interested please feel free to e-mail me. Untill then enjoy R/R_**

**Chapter 2 Heritage Claimed**

The plan he had come up with was rather simple but he felt it would work. He would simply_ "borrow_" enough money from his uncle to pay for a taxi into London. Harry had no intention of returning to his relatives ever again, he owned at least two properties in London and would stay there temporarily.

It was with that though in mind he carefully had packed all the belongings in his fathers enchanted trunk; he had spent an hour learning how to shrink and unshrink it. With his trunk secured safely in his pocket he had strolled away from Privet Drive with two-hundred pounds in his pocket.

His aunt hadn't even questioned where he was going but that was nothing unusual for her. Harry would have been surprised had she not shown her usual loathing and abusive behavior toward him. The prospect of never having to return to the Dursleys had left Harry in a pretty good mood as he strolled down the street.

There was a slight wind yet Harry couldn't help but feel extremely relieved and excited at the prospect of never seeing his relatives again. Although he absentmindedly wondered what their reactions would have been when they realized just how much money he actually had.

They probably would be looking through catalogs for a summer home in Majorica while remarking to Harry how he didn't deserve the money because he was an evil unnatural abomination. Them insulting him was of course nothing particularly new but the mere idea his greedy relatives would get even a single gold piece of the money left to him by his parents was enough to make his skin crawl.

Harry through his musings had hardly realized he had gotten into the back of a taxi and was in the midst of being driven to London. Silently berating himself for getting lost in thought like that Harry closed his eyes and decided to rest until they reached London.

* * *

"Hey kid were here." Harry's eyes instantly snapped open, he slipped the driver a fifty-pound note and without bothering to get his change he slipped out of the taxi.

The taxi drove away as Harry looked directly at a shabby looking inn which courtesy of anti-muggle charms no one seemed to notice as they strolled by. Harry's eyes flicked over the entrance and he noticed the name of the place, "**_The Leaky Cauldron_**" while amused at the name he slowly walked inside.

It was a small shabby dimly lit looking inn, the little light that there was came from a few random floating candles throughout the inn. Yet it was the odd looking patrons which caught Harry's interest, there were people dressed in all manner of different colored robes and an assortment of small dwarfs, goblins, and one rather brutish looking fella with large horns sticking out of his head.

Harry found all of them fascinating looking but decided not to press his luck by gawking at them, he casually headed for the entrance of Diagon Alley as described in the book he read. So when he came up to the large brick wall he felt a little pang of relief flood through him.

Harry's photographic memory displayed the pattern in his mind as he tapped the brick wall with his mother's wand. When he touched the final brick he watched in fascination as the wall seemed to peel back on itself. Harry's breath hitched as he gazed in wonder at Diagon Alley.

There were hundreds of different people shopping in Diagon Alley, witches and wizards dressed in a brilliant display of differently colored robes. So many other different creatures that Harry couldn't seem to identify, the air was filled with the shouts of street venders peddling their wares and trying to convince people that they alone held some ultra-rare item or special unique trinket.

Harry knew that he was revered in the wizarding world; the logic that seemed to feed this reverence was quite flawed to him. To think that a mere infant actively attempted to kill or destroy a DarkLord or any creature for that matter is an act of complete and utter foolishness.

Yet from what limited information he was able to gather from various books was that he was some sort of symbol and would most likely be treated as a celebrity in the wizarding world. Harry would have preferred to remain just another nameless young man entering the wizarding world but apparently that was never going to happen.

So he would have to find a way to use his fame to benefit him when he needed, yet right now he figured it best to just blend into the crowd and not draw attention to himself. With this in mind he had made sure his bangs were pushed down and covering his scar.

So with his anonymity in check Harry began strolling down the main street of Diagon Alley, he moved at a casual place and took time to examine many of the more unique items for sale. Although it irked him deeply that he didn't know what most of it was or what its intended purpose was.

After spending a half-hour of just general browsing and observation Harry had found himself near the first place he needed to visit. Gringott's was a tall building constructed of white marble, two massive bronze doors guarded the entrance to the Wizarding Bank.

As Harry walked toward the doors he couldn't help but notice a little poem inscribed in silver right beside the bronze doors.

_Enter, stranger, but take heed  
Of what awaits the sin of greed  
For those who take, but do not earn,  
Must pay most dearly in their turn.  
So if you seek beneath our floors  
A treasure that was never yours,  
Thief, you have been warned, beware  
Of finding more than treasure there_

"A bit cryptic." Harry thought to himself.

As Harry walked inside the first thing he noticed was the rather large amount of guards in the area, they were dressed in some sort of gold and scarlet formal goblin guard uniform. The next thing he noticed were the goblins in question, they were short and dark-skinned with very long fingers and feet, it appeared that some of them like to have pointed beards too.

The goblin guards wore deadly looking ivory handled scimitars at their hips; their inquisitive eyes were constantly scanning around the interior of the bank. Harry had suspicions that there weapons may have some sort of magical properties but what particular property he was unsure of.

There were hundreds of attendants working in the large entry room; Harry decided to head for the nearest one to see if he could help direct him. The attendant he did step to had a large bald head and a fierce frown on his face, yet Harry was beginning to suspect that was quite normal for goblins.

"Key please." Harry blinked in surprise at how well the goblin spoke English, he then thought about what he meant in regard to a key.

"I'm afraid I don't have a key, perhaps there is someone I could talk to in regards to the Potter Estate?" This apparently got the goblins attention as his eyes shot Harry a piercing glare.

"Without a key you can't speak to the Estate's manager." Harry blinked in surprise; he assumed that he was in full control of the Potter Estate.

"I assume there is another way for me to prove my lineage?" The goblin looked highly annoyed but shot Harry a thoughtful look.

"I can do a blood testing ritual here but I will require some of your blood." Harry rolled black his sleeve and offered his arm; the goblin smiled nastily and pulled a scimitar similar to the ones the guards were wearing. Harry felt the cool metal as it was pressed through the skin of his palm.

He ignored the little shock of pain that crept through his system; he had sustained far worse at the hands of his uncle during a scotch fueled beating. The goblin laid the scimitar on the desk and began waving his hands over it muttering in a language that Harry couldn't hear and probably not understand.

The scimitar began to a glow an eerie reddish hue as the goblin continued to chant, Harry watched in fascination as the scimitar seemingly glowed every color of the light spectrum before fading back to normal. Harry looked back at the goblin that appeared to be less angry and more alert.

"It seems that you indeed are Lord Potter, my name is Griphook and with your permission I will show you to the manager of your estate." Harry nodded and followed even though he was a little confused at the title, was he some sort of nobility in the wizarding world or was it just an official title?

Griphook lead him away from the main corridor down a large while marbled hallway, Griphook lead him past a number of doors before stopping at a large highly polished oak door and knocking. It took almost twenty-seconds for the door to open, Griphook didn't look pleased but for once it seemed to be directed at the goblin in question.

He was a little shorter then Griphook and a little more pudgy, he was dressed in something Harry imagined to be fine silk or something remarkably like it. The attendant was looking at Griphook with obvious loathing in his eyes before he turned to regard Harry.

"What is the meaning of this?" Griphook looked even angrier then before, his tone was formal and crisp with an obvious coolness laced in.

"Lord Potter may I introduce you to Raghock, he is the official manager of the Potter Estate." Raghock's eyes grew large and he clumsily bowed to Harry.

"Welcome Lord Potter, this is quite an unexpected pleasure." Harry was starting to get a rather bad feeling about Raghock, his tone seemed rather forced but also the way he look and acted made Harry feel uneasy. He glanced over at Griphook who was looking at Raghock with the utmost loathing, if that loathing originated from jealousy or something Harry was not sure.

"I've come to check on the state of my finances and would also like to request a MCC." Raghock looked uncomfortable for a few seconds for some reason that Harry couldn't fathom but any trace of that was wiped away quickly.

"I'm sorry Mr. Potter but you can't gain access to your family's vaults without written permission from your guardians." Raghock played the regretful look very well but another casual glance at Griphook only confirmed to Harry that something was amiss.

"According to my understanding of wizarding law, I'm the last of the Potters and so don't require any type of special permission to access my families accounts." Raghock shook his head condescendingly and let out a soft sigh.

"I'm afraid Mr. Potter that your incorrect, I'm also going to have to ask you to leave until such time your guardians can come and provide you and sign the proper forums." Harry was stunned, he couldn't believe that the Dursley's would have to come and sign a release.

"Is what he saying true?" Harry directed the question at Griphook who had been previously glaring at Raghock; his expression was now a mix of surprise and anger.

"I don't think that there needs to be anymore discussion, now please leave or I shall summon the guards." Griphook sent Raghock a look of disgust before turning to Harry.

"Lord Potter as the head of the Potter family and the soul surviving member of your family, you are entitled to allow your guardians to access your vault but only with your permission." Raghock glared angrily at Griphook before turning to Harry and poking him in the chest with a long bridle finger.

"I've told you Mr. Potter that you can't access your vaults and I'm telling you to leave this bank!" His voice was angry but Harry couldn't respond before Griphook spoke.

"You dare to physically assault a client, and then you dare to presume to think you can deny a client access to his vaults!" Harry didn't consider what Raghock did much of a physical assault but Griphook's tone seemed to suggest something different, as he was visibly shaking with anger.

"I shall not take this type of disrespect from a low level clerk." Harry out of the corner of his eye spotted a number of goblin guards approaching.

"I'm going to report you to the bank manager, this type of blatant abuse of power and disrespect for a Gringott's client will not go unpunished." Raghock didn't look very worried judging by the way he sneered at Griphook.

"I'm the bank manager for one of the largest wizarding fortunes in the world and you are just some low level nobody clerk, who do you think they will believe?" Harry who had been otherwise quiet for a while decided that now was as good a time as any to make himself known again.

"Not anymore, I find your services unsatisfactory Raghock and you will no longer handle the affairs of my family." Raghock whose venomous gaze had been locked on Griphook now whipped around to stare at Harry in confusion.

"You shall terminate any further dealings with my family's finances involving yourself or I will remove my money from Gringott's." This was a calculated threat on Harry's part, he knew the threat was nothing more but talk yet he was hoping that the goblins inherently greedy nature would prevent them from noticing that little detail.

"Lord Potter I'm Assistant Bank Manager Ruchock, could I perhaps be of assistance?" Harry turned around to find an aged yet distinguished goblin looking at him; the guards were also formed up behind this individual which signaled to Harry that he was a prominent member of Gringott's.

"I've been denied access to my accounts Mr. Ruchock, is that a common practice of Gringott's?" Harry's tone was neutral but a distinctly angry tone was laced within. Ruchock for his part looked appalled for a few seconds before shaking his head vigorously.

"Then I must insist that Raghock have no further control of my families accounts and further more I would like request that the job be given to Griphook." Silence was the only thing that greeted Harry as he studied each of the goblins; Raghock looked torn between being appalled and angry. Griphook was staring at Harry with utter shock and Ruchock was looking a little surprised.

"Him, some low-level attendance clerk!" Raghock was glaring at Harry in complete indignation.

"Lord Potter of course if that is what you really want I truly hope that the disgraceful actions of Raghock will not make you think unkindly of Gringott's." Harry observed Ruchock who seemed to be honestly worried.

"My family has kept its business here for a very long time Mr. Ruchock, and I will not condemn Gringott's based on the actions of one disturbed soul, I just hope that in the future I will be treated better." Ruchock nodded almost immediately, it was rather a surprise that out of his peripheral vision Harry saw Raghock lunge at him.

Harry whirled to meet the deranged goblin but in a flash of brilliant light Raghock was seemingly slapped by some invisible force mid-air. He flew back slamming into the white marbled wall; there was a loud crack as Harry suspected the deranged goblin had broken a few bones.

Guards were quickly wrestling Raghock into a submissive position on his knees, with a scimitar resting on his neck the guards looked at Harry expectantly. Harry was a little unsure of what they were asking of him, he suspected that Raghock had broken some sacred goblin vow by attacking him and now his life rested with Harry.

"End it." Harry had deliberately phrased his words to have a broad meaning, he watched in morbid fascination as Raghock's eyes went wide with shock and fear. He saw the razor sharp scimitar deftly ran along the neck of Raghock, a gurgling sound could be escaping from his throat in a vain attempted to breathe.

Harry watched with indifference as Raghock's corpse slumped to the ground, his crimson blood seeped out across the highly polished white marble floor. With a disgusted huff Ruchock motioned for the guards to drag the now dead goblin away.

"Well now that such unpleasant business is over with I assume we can move onto other matters?" Harry looked at Griphook who simply nodded with a business-like air.

"Please follow me Lord Potter." Harry without missing a beat followed Griphook into the lavishly decorated office; Harry sat down at a rather comfortable leather chair while Griphook took a seat across from behind a rather large oak desk.

"Now Lord Potter what may I ask do you need help with today." Harry was a little surprised by the goblins indifference to the execution which had just taken place only a few moments before.

"I'd first like to ask why you refer to me as Lord Potter." Griphook look confused.

"Are you not the head of your family?" Harry took a moment to consider this, he guessed that in a sense he was but he personally felt that one must have a family to actually be the head of it.

"I'm sorry for my ignorance, I've only recently learned of the wizarding world and my knowledge is still quite limited regarding its customs." Griphook nodded in understanding.

"No need to apologize Lord Potter, now what can I help you with?" Harry took a second to collect himself before speaking.

"I was wondering if you could help me in a legal matter." Griphook again seemed confused.

"While this is not within the scope of my usual purview but I'd be willing to contact legal counsel to help you with this problem." Harry nodded in thanks.

"I need to file for emancipation from my current guardians." A surprised eyebrow was the only reaction Harry received from Griphook.

"The personal reasons are rather irrelevant but could you get in contact with a law firm and have the papers filed?" Griphook nodded impassively.

"Yes I know of a law firm, they could realistically have the papers filed within a week and probably get a ruling in your favor within a couple of weeks." Harry nodded gratefully.

"If I receive a judgment in my favor then I will authorize a ten-thousand galleon bonus for you Griphook." A distinctively satisfied smirk appeared on Griphooks face.

"Do you think it would be possible for you to get me a MCC and a set of credentials that would fool the muggle authorities?" Griphook didn't even blink before he nodded.

"Gringott's has connections within the British Government; I will have all the proper papers forwarded to you via owl post." Harry inclined his head in thanks.

"I assume you could provide me with an MCC and a muggle credit card right now?" Griphook nodded absentmindedly, he snapped his fingers and a small manila folder appeared in front of him. Harry thought it was a little dramatic but decided to keep his comments to himself.

"Inside of this folder is an MCC and a generic brand name muggle credit card, the MCC has been directly keyed into your bloodline as a security feature to prevent fraudulent use." Harry thought it was a rather ingenuous security measure but he knew it could be bypassed if someone had the proper amount of time to research the subject.

"The bills from the muggle credit card will be sent directly to the muggle bank which stores your muggle currency." Harry nodded in understanding before reaching up and taking the manila folder.

"I would like to have all my families past financial records along with any future ones sent to me via owl post." Griphook nodded in agreement.

"I believe that will conclude my business here for today and I'd like to extend my thanks to you for promptly handling all of my requests." Griphook seemed indifferent to the praise, he gave Harry a prompt nod before looking back to his recently acquire desk.

Harry after filing the entire situation for something for him to meditate on later, he quietly strolled out of the room and headed back toward the large bronze doors at the entrance of Gringott's. Harry was rather eager to begin what promised to be a rather long day of shopping.

He was surprised that nothing seemed to be amiss at Gringott's as he strolled out, there were no signs that Raghock had just had his neck slit and not even an enquiring look was sent in Harry direction. Maybe it was part of their culture he mused or something different all together.

As Harry stepped out into the crowded streets of Diagon Alley he took a few seconds to look for his next stop, he had decided earlier that the first thing he wanted to do was get his wand. It took him several seconds to find the sign which had been described by his parents in their letters.

"Ollivander's Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC" Harry repeated the title of the store to himself to help commit it to memory and then began working his way though the crowd to reach it. It took Harry a couple of minutes to fight his way through the crowds and walk inside.

The store itself was it was a long slim room with thousands of boxes on either wall, the only piece of furniture was a small spindly chair centered in the middle of the store, Harry carefully scanned the interior of the wand shop for the proprietor, a man who had eerie moonlike eyes his father had written.

"Good afternoon Mr. Potter." Harry noted the lack of formal title but hypothesized that the goblins were a little more rigid in those respects. Ollivander himself was peering from behind a rather unsteady stack of wands; Harry also noted with amusement that his eyes did hold an eerie moon-ish quality to them.

"Good day Mr. Ollivander, I've come for my wand." Ollivander nodded and came out from behind the stacks of wands to face Harry directly.

"Perhaps you could tell me what your wand arm is?" Harry was multi-dexterous and so he was quite sure that either one of his hands would have sufficed, but he stuck out his right one just to move the process along.

"Hmm.. Indeed, I shall need to run the usual tests Mr. Potter and I will require a sample of your blood." Harry sent Ollivander an inquisitive gaze as he contemplated wither or not to give up some of his blood.

"I need a small sample of your blood Mr. Potter to help determine what wand type would fit best with your own personal magic." Harry could see the logic in this but he still felt some hesitation about giving out his blood, maybe it was him being overly paranoid but Harry felt it best to enquire as into another way for Mr. Ollivander to get the information he needed.

"Perhaps there is a spell you could do to determine what information you need?" Ollivander frowned but it was replaced with a jovial nod so quick Harry wondered if he had seen the frown at all, yet in his mind's eye he knew that for some reason Ollivander was displeased at not getting even a minuscule amount of Harry's blood.

"**_Sorto Dwexa Lurox Furom." _**Harry noted the words were Latin in origin as he saw a green beam fly from the tip of Ollivanders wand; it didn't hit but encircled him like an aura. He watched with intense curiosity as the aura around him turned a gaggle of colors from a bubblegum pink to a dark neon green color, it finally settled on a chilling shade of blood red with flicks of all the previous colors strewn in.

"My word, what a… unique magical aura." Harry shifted his gaze to Ollivander whose eyes were locked on the magical outline around Harry; he appeared to be supremely astounded and intensely interested all at the same time.

"Pardon Mr. Ollivander but what is so unique about my aura?" Ollivanders attention instantly snapped back into reality, his moon-ish eyes scrutinizing Harry before he responded.

"It's just unusual for the aura revealing spell to take such a long time.. now I'm afraid Mr. Potter that I will have to custom craft your wand." Harry was surprised by this statement; there were literally thousands of magical wands surrounding him.

"I shall only be a few minutes, I'm sure you can amuse yourself for a while." Without another word Ollivander made a graceful turn and headed into the backroom.

"I shall require a backup wand to Mr. Ollivander." Harry didn't get a response but didn't really expect one either, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his book about Attic Greek to read. It was an annoying trait of his but Harry became so engrossed in his book he hardly noticed that Ollivander was standing over with him a bemused expression.

"I'm rather surprised at your choice of reading material Mr. Potter." Harry's only response was a shrug as he slipped the book into his pocket.

"I have a certain passion for different languages, I believe that the spell you used has it's origins in Latin if I'm not mistaken." Ollivander smiled lightly, he then offered Harry a pair of small long thin boxes.

"I'm delighted to say that making your wand was especially enjoyable." Harry couldn't quite muster the same happiness that Ollivander obviously felt for his craft but he didn't doubt the joy the man seemed to derive from it.

"I used wood from a holly tree due to it's rather tougher resistance to raw magical power." Harry looked at Ollivander curiously and motioned for him to continue, Harry was mentally committing every word of his conversation with Ollivander to memory so he could research the basic properties of his wand later.

"Now I soaked the wood in a purifying potion and inscribed tiny different runes to help channel your unique magical power better." Harry wondered what was so unique about his magical power but refrained from asking due to a suspicion that Ollivander wouldn't give him any type of useful answer.

"Due to your uniqueness Mr. Potter I decided that two magical cores would be needed to fully utilize your potential." Harry again wondered why Ollivander was being so vague.

"I used the tail feather from a phoenix and a piece of a dementor's cloak." These names really didn't mean anything to Harry but he suspected that they would once he had properly researched them.

"I created an exact duplicate of that wand to serve as a backup, but I must caution you that if you attempt to cast spells with two wands at the same time it could get lead to severe magical whiplash." Harry nodded in understanding and then set one of the boxes down,

He opened the box still in his hand to get a closer look at his wand, the wand itself was about nine-inches along with a high polished wood finish, upon closer examination Harry noted tiny golden runes expertly engraved up all along the side of his wand.

When he took it in his hand he felt a surge of warmth spread throughout his entire body and an immediate attachment to the wand in question. Harry took a few more seconds of admiring his wand before he opened the other box to find that each wand was strikingly identical in every respect.

"May I please also get your best wand polishing kit and a pair of the best wand holsters you have in stock." Ollivander nodded and quickly retrieved the items in question, Harry put the Hungarian Horntail skin dueling holsters on and then slipped each of his wands in their respective holster.

"That will be exactly seventy-three galleons please." Harry dug in the manila folder from Gringott's and gave Ollivander his MCC, Ollivander tapped the card with his own wand and then handed it back to Harry.

"Well I believe we can expect great things from you Mr. Potter, so until our next meeting I wish you good day." Harry inclined his head in thanks and quietly exited the shop.

While there was definitely aspects of his meeting with Ollivander he found unnerving he couldn't help but be a little happy that he finally had his own wand. Harry also decided to just wait until he had more information before pondering his meeting with Ollivander anymore.

He spent a couple of minutes looking around for a shop called **Flourish and Blott's **before spotting it and then working his way through the crowd to reach the bookstore.

When Harry stepped inside the bookstore he couldn't help but be relieved, there were many other people inside including a number of teenagers also searching through the almost endless bookshelves. Harry didn't want to draw attention to himself and that was a lot easier to do while in a crowd where he could just blend.

Harry couldn't help but feel a sudden thrill of anticipation, in this store were many of the answers to some of the questions he desperately wanted answers to. Harry took a few seconds to calm down and allow his mind to become focused, he skimmed the bookshelves before finding the section on wands.

Harry picked up a small leather satchel on his way to section, the display said it was charmed to hold weights in the amount of three hundred pounds and Harry figured it would be an easy way to transport all the books he was going to buy. When he reached the section about wands he methodically began to fill his satchel with books on wand care and proper wand movement etc.

Ten minutes and fifteen books in his satchel Harry moved onto another section, it soon became the same repeating pattern for Harry. He would go to each section of the store and strip the shelves of any books he founded interesting or potentially useful, he picked up books on everything from basic to advanced hexes to a definitive guide about the history of goblins.

There were some rather peculiar books that especially interested him, there was one book which talked extensively how sex was linked with magic and a book about an obscure branch of mind-magic called Occlumency. Books on all different forms of magic from runic to elemental spells.

When he was finally satisfied that he had gotten everything he would need for now he was rather disturbed to discover he had spent over three hours acquiring all his reading material. Harry knew that he was going to have to pick up the pace if he intended to get all of shopping done today.

The attendant who rung up his purchases seemed indifferent to the fact that Harry had done a fair job of stripping the store shelves completely bare. When Harry exited Flourish and Blott's he decided that now as good a time as any to get his potion ingredients, he worked his way over to the Apothecary to do just that.

When he stepped into the store he couldn't help but grimace a bit, his nose was assaulted with all type of rotten or disgusting smells. The visuals weren't exactly that pleasant either, he knew that he had no qualms about using a newt's eye in a potion but that didn't stop him from abstaining from a more thorough visual examination

Harry took a few seconds to compose himself before stepping up to the clerk who had been watching him since he had entered the apothecary.

"Ah yes how may I help you young man?" Harry looked around for a second, he was loathed to just buy the basic ingredients he would need for Hogwarts but he wasn't sure what type of ingredients he would need for the potions he would brew on his own either.

"I need a level one potion kit, a set of crystal phials, a gold cauldron, and exactly a dozen of every ingredient you possess." The clerk who merely arched a surprised eyebrow before he turned around and began to assemble the supplies.

As Harry waited he began to ponder what exactly he would need next, he knew a trip into Knockturn Alley would be required to acquire the rest of the books he wanted. Although he knew he would be vulnerable inside such a place, his thirst for knowledge was enough that he was willing to take the chance.

The clerk had been kind enough to provide a case for the enormous amount of potion ingredients but on reflection Harry noted he was getting a rather hefty payment for the items too. Harry exited the apothecary and took a few moments to enjoy the feeling of fresh air before he set off toward his next target.

He made a very quick stops at Quality Quidditch Supplies and Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, he bought Nimbus Two Thousand broom along with a few other items including an entire new wardrobe.

Now satisfied that he had the majority of his shopping done Harry quickly pulled up his hood and slipped into Knockturn Alley. It didn't take long for Harry to discover why Knockturn Alley had such a reputation for being a place where the unscrupulous dredges of the wizarding world met . Aside from the cloak-and-dagger types that were skulking around in the shadows, the items or services that seemed to offered in this place were definitely not family friendly.

Scantily dressed witches shot Harry well-rehearsed lustful looks, there were different street vendors selling all manner of items which include but not limited to actual human fingers. Harry didn't notice any particular vendor selling any types of books but then again he doubted that was something one advertised either.

After a tense couple of minutes of strolling down the main street of Knockturn Alley Harry decided to take a chance on a rather small store named Borgin and Burkes. He quietly slipped into the store, he was surprised at the different items that seemed to be on display.

There was a rather gruesome display of shrunken heads on a windows seal, a rope that a sign claimed to have caused the death of no less then seventeen different muggles. Of course those were only among the few items which were on display but Harry didn't waste time to examine any others.

"May I help you?" a stooping man had appeared behind the counter, smoothing his greasy hair back from his face. He was eyeing Harry with suspicion but Harry doubted this was an unusual trait for him either.

"My time is precious and also short so I will be frank, I've in need of your entire of stock of reading materials." Borgin showed no indication of moving but he did continue to eye Harry with suspicion.

"What you see on display is what I got." Harry didn't even bother to acknowledge the obvious lie.

"I can assure you good sir that my family will compensate you greatly if you stop wasting my time and acquire the items I requested." Borgin still looked suspicious but now his own personal greed was beginning win out over any misgivings he had about Harry.

"I want five-thousand galleons right now; I'll send the books to ye via owl post." Harry wrestled with the idea for a few seconds before giving his MCC to Borgin.

"If you fail to honor your part of the deal Mr. Borgin, I can promise the repercussions will be unpleasant." Without another word Harry quietly exited the store.

It was then that a sense of foreboding over washed him; he looked over and then let out a sigh.

Standing there was none other then Albus Dumbledore

and he was not smiling.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N I owe own a special thanks to one person, you know her as Majestrix and I owe her a great amount of thanks for proof reading this chapter. So without further ado, I present you with this chapter and hope you enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter 3 Clash of Titans**

_Hmm… well this is certainly rather unexpected_

Harry was barely able to hide his utter shock, for standing before him dressed in long flowing purplish robes was an ancient looking man with long white hair and twinkling blue eyes. Although now his expression appeared to be neutral, he was gazing at Harry expectantly.

There was only one man who Harry knew that fit this description, his name was Albus Brian Wolfric Dumbledore leader of the revered Dumbledore house, Headmaster of Hogwarts, Supreme Mugwump, and he probably had a very longer list of impressive titles and acolytes.

What he did represent to Harry was a potential problem, he doubted that Dumbledore appreciated the fact he was in Knockturn Alley. More to the point, Harry wondered why he was so interested in Harry personally; suffice say that Harry's paranoia level had gained a whole new level at that particular moment.

Harry decided to simply feign ignorance; he shifted his gaze away from Dumbledore and began silently walking toward Diagon Alley. He really wasn't surprised when Dumbledore moved to intercept him; the frown on the old man's face became more pronounced.

"Mr. Potter may I have a word?" Harry cast him a confused look but he honestly doubted that Dumbledore was buying the act.

"It depends on who you are and what your intentions are." Harry kept his tone cool but Dumbledore still looked at him warily.

"My name is Albus Dumbledore; I'm an old friend of your parents and was just wondering if we could maybe chat?" Harry's eyes flicked around the ally, he had a feeling that he was being watched but by who or why he was not sure.

"Yes well I suppose I have time for a quick chat before I leave." Dumbledore smiled kindly and motioned for Harry to follow him, the walk out of Knockturn Alley was awkward and silent.

"You know that Knockturn Alley is a rather dangerous place Harry, might I suggest you avoid it in the future." Harry said nothing for a few seconds as he contemplated how to respond.

"Until we become more familiar Mr. Dumbledore I would ask you please refer to me as Mr. Potter and I will consider your advice thank you." Out the corner of his eye Harry hoped that Dumbledore would reveal something about what he was thinking but the old man was the most stoic person he had ever met.

"I meant no disrespect Mr. Potter, may I ask where your guardians are as I'm sure they are worried terribly about you." Harry had to stop himself from glaring at Dumbledore.

"My guardians could hardly care less, although it doesn't matter anymore as I've decided to continue living on my own." This remark only earned a raised eyebrow from Dumbledore.

"I'm sure you know Mr. Potter that a child in the magical world must be in the custody of appropriate guardians." Harry felt the urge to just simply tell Dumbledore to push off but he kept his impulses in check.

"Mister Dumbledore that would imply that I was ever with competent guardians, I can assure you that when I meet the complete and utter idiot who left me with the Dursley's I promise my revenge shall be very painful." A minor flash of surprise in Dumbledore's eyes but aside from that the man was like a rock.

"Perhaps you maybe are willing to describe the details of your case with me?" Harry shook head slowly as they neared the exit of Knockturn Alley.

"I'm afraid my time here is limited Mr. Dumbledore, I've got arrangements to make." It was not quite a lie but it was a blatant dismissal. Dumbledore though didn't even bat an eyelash, he nodded politely.

"Then I wish you good luck Mr. Potter and I bid you good day." Without a backward glance, the aging headmaster strode off toward the entrance to Diagon Alley.

"Indeed well that was weird." Harry had suspicions that Dumbledore was not the kind grandfatherly figure that he seemed to act like. There were too many coincidences to be explained, and what irked him more was the most obvious question of all.

"Why me?" No answers came for with and any theories he formed were quickly discarded, he just didn't have enough information to make an intelligent conclusion.

Quickly shaking his head trying to get some focus, Harry strode toward the Leaky Cauldron. His business was done here for the day and he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that he was being watched. As Harry strolled down the street he did his best to capture any body following him but he didn't see anyone suspicious.

_Maybe I'm just being paranoid…_

Yet that notion quickly left Harry's mind as he made a quick stroll through the Leaky Cauldron and back into muggle London. He was not one prone to fits of paranoia and some how he got the feeling that Dumbledore was a man with the resources that he could arrange for somebody or a pair of somebody's to follow Harry.

Harry flagged down a taxi and told the driver to take him to a moderately priced hotel, Harry didn't know enough yet about his family's personal properties to risk going to one. He needed time go over the files that Griphook was sending to him, and he needed time to examine the massive treasure trove of knowledge he had acquired from Diagon Alley.

What he needed was a sanctuary.

He didn't even realize that these thoughts had consumed the entire length of the taxi ride; he peeled off a couple of fifty pound notes and handed them to the driver. Without evening bothering to get his change Harry quickly stepped out of the taxi and headed for the entrance.

The hotel itself was named the "The Moonlight Inn" a rather peculiar name for a muggle hotel in Harry's opinion, but the inside had a quaint feel to it. When he rung the bell as the desk, a frail looking older woman came forward from a back room and looked at Harry suspiciously.

"Can I help you young man?" Harry didn't even bother to acknowledge the look he was receiving, he just reached inside his pocket and peeled off a couple hundred pound notes and laid them on the checkout desk.

"I'd like the best accommodations you could provide and I also would appreciate if you didn't mention to anyone I was here." His tone was neutral but he cemented his point by laying another two hundred pounds on the desk. The frail woman was looking at the money with a mix of surprise and just a hint of envy.

"Of course sir, if you would please come this way." Harry followed the woman to a room on the second floor; she motioned for Harry to follow her in. It was a medium sized room with a small but comfortable looking bed and sturdy leather furniture sporadically spaced around the interior.

"Supper will be brought to you in an hour or so sir." Harry eyed the accommodations with approval, they were nothing flashy but they would suit his purposes well enough.

"Thank you very much." Harry peeled off another fifty pound note and gave it to the woman; she gave Harry a fairly impressive imitative smile and then left the room. Harry quietly laid down the satchel which contained easily more then a hundred magical tombs and various other magical items.

"So where do I begin?" The question hung in the air for quite some time, only when did the frail lady return with his dinner, did Harry chide himself and he began to sort through the various magical tomes he had acquired.

The process of sorting through the many volumes of books was not easy, and by the time Harry had finished his dinner had gone cold. With a tired sigh he quickly gobbled down the poor chops and vegetables and drank the tea that was not only cold, but tasted as if it were on its way to becoming stale. He decided to get some sleep and start fresh in the morning.

Quickly locking the door and slipping under the covers, he was asleep before his head had fully relaxed into the soft pillow.

_One Week Later_

Life at the Moonlight Inn had been a rare treat for Harry, after spending a day going over his family financial files and then authorizing the bonus for Griphook. The records were quite extensive and Harry had a feeling he would be spending a long time before he was confident he had them all organized completely.

Harry had gone to the Bank of London and withdrawn over three thousand pounds in cash, he knew that for most purchases he could use his credit card but for some of the shadier deals he planned, cash was the preferred currency. He also knew, there was a psychological affect to seeing a wad of money that no little plastic card could hope to duplicate.

Aside from poring over musty old financial documents, Harry had thrown himself into reading books about wands, proper wand care and proper wand technique. Harry faced a constant inner struggle with himself, one part of him desperately wanted to whip out his spell books and begin learning magic immediately.

Yet the inner scholar Harry held firm, he knew rushing blindly off into casting spells without a firm knowledge of the basics was a foolish and reckless thing to do. He had already gained several interesting tips on the different ways of holding one's wand, plus a wealth of knowledge on proper wand technique and wand care.

He had devoured the last of the books on wands he had last night and was carefully debating on what to do next. Harry didn't want to delve too deeply into one subject but wanted an even beginning with all of them. He knew naturally that some subjects were far too advanced for him to try and that he would have to branch out as he gained proficiency.

Harry had decided he would devote his beginning studies to charms, hexes, curses, potions, and alternate between magical history and runic magic. He was carefully planning his lessons; not wanting to advance too far into one particular subject and lose ground into another.

He knew that he was behind most magical children of his age, well… that was partly true at least. Children from pureblood families or so he had read, were usually introduced to magic at a much earlier age and some of the more reckless families even taught their children basic magic skills.

Despite the fact the book had sternly warned against that type of action, citing it was in violation of Wizarding law.

Harry had also been able to piece together a couple of facts about the British Isle Ministry of Magic, there are elections every four years to vote for the minister, whose job entails leading the Ministry of Magic, enforcing it's laws and so forth. Although the real power of the government was something called a Wizengamot.

The Wizengamot was made up of up to 175 different witches and wizards from across the British Isles and the positions were hereditary, meaning the child of a current member would automatically inherit their family's seat. The Wizengamot made laws for the British Isle wizarding world as well as was the court system and they had the ultimate say in Ministry affairs.

A majority vote is needed to pass any resolution and without it a law can't be passed, the odd thing that Harry noticed was that while only having 175 members total, certain individuals vote counted for more then others. Why going through his families documents, Harry had discovered that his family held a seat on the Wizengamot. The Potters were among only five families whose single vote counted as five.

This revelation had caused Harry a certain amount of disbelief, and then a certain amount of relief, he was shocked that the wizarding world was using such a draconian method of government but on the other hand it seemed his family was a very powerful one at that.

Among a seat on the Wizengamot, Harry had inherited seats on the International Confederation of Wizards, a minor seat on the Hogwarts Board of Governors and numerous foreign titles, which quite frankly baffled him. He had copied every one of them with the intention of researching their meaning and learning how he could twist them to his benefit.

It was all a very surreal experience for Harry, but after a week he had plenty of time to get used to the idea of new his status. Although he figured to himself, it was probably easier to get used to having power then it was not having it. All in all it had been a very busy week for Harry.

He shook his head and pulled out of his reminiscing, one look at the clock told him that he was late and this trip down memory lane was interfering with his schedule. Slipping out of the bed Harry went into the bathroom, his gaze stopping at the mirror as he examined himself.

The question of Harry's rather sudden entering of puberty had been answered a few days ago; Harry had discovered that magical children usually entered puberty at around eleven or twelve years old. Aside from the usual effects, it was also when a persons magical core, really began maturing.

Harry had estimated that he would be looking like a seventeen year old teenager for the next several years of his life, as all other magical children would to. Harry really didn't mind that thought much at all, he really didn't like the idea of being short and he estimated that by the time he headed for Hogwarts, he would be a respectable 5'10.

Berating himself for again becoming absorbed into his thoughts, Harry quickly slipped into the shower and in about forty-five minutes he was finally ready to go, his hair was firmly styled into place and he had applied all the usual nice smelling products that society demanded.

A casual glance at the clock told him that he needed to hurry up and order breakfast, or risk having to wait till lunch before he ate anything. Quickly leaving an order with the grouchy door lady, he never did learn her name and he probably should have made at least a passable effort to be nice.

Even if she did sometimes annoy him with unwanted calls or stops in hope of receiving another generous tip, with breakfast taken care of. Harry was finally all set to begin practicing a small list of spells that he picked out the night before, they were mostly harmless jinxes and charms but with one useful defense spell thrown in.

He had specifically bought a couple pair of vases for him to use as target practice but he realized that when he visited Diagon Alley again he would definitely need to invest in a more suitable item. With that reminder floating around in his head, Harry positioned the vase on a small oak desk and took his wand from inside his pocket.

"_**Vase Multipuo**."_ He swished the wand just as the picture in the book showed, Harry watched with swelling satisfaction as the vase shook for a minute before seemingly splitting apart and now leaving two where there was once one.

Harry spent the next few minutes examining the vases as he tried to determine which one was the copy and which one was the original. Soon though the copy was revealed, it had begun to become transparent and disappear as the magic in the spell dissipated.

Harry had knew that it was possible to allow magically copied items to exist longer by tying them directly into a persons magical core but that was far to advanced for Harry to think about trying right now. He was ready to move onto the next spell, when a soft knock on the door signaled that breakfast had arrived.

Harry quickly pocketed his wand and then took the tray from bellhop, the meals here were nothing to shout about but they tasted decent enough and Harry knew he needed to keep his energy up. He had read that when a witch or wizard first started casting spells, their body used up more energy then normal.

It was for that reason that Harry had began taking a regiment of vitamins everyday to ensure he was getting all the proper nutrition. While he munched on his sausage and egg biscuit, Harry continued to pour over a most promising document that had been sent along by Griphook.

It was a detailed account of the Potter families real estate holdings in the British Isles, Harry had discarded most of the more obvious places and was considering heading for a cottage that his family owned. It was in the Scottish Highlands and was miles away from any type of civilization.

The cottage seemed like a good place for Harry to finish his introductory studies about the wizarding world, he would have to see if the cottage needed to be furnished with supplies but he doubted it. To actually gain access to the cottage was turning out to be a bit of a mystery.

It seemed like the more Harry learned of his ancestors and his family history, the more a pattern was beginning to emerge. Apparently the Potter family had a rather pro-active record, his family had an extensive history of involvement from the Vampire Clan wars of the 1500's to the Dark Lord Grindelwald's reign of terror in the 1920's-1940's.

As such it was becoming increasingly obvious that the Potter family was a stickler for security, the location of the Potter's more ancient homes were shrouded in mystery. Well at least to everyone else they were, these documents which were enchanted with a very powerful set of ritualistic blood spells that's purpose was to ensure no outsider could read them and learn the location of the Potter's hideaways.

Harry might have initially been a little skeptical about the need for such security measures but the more he learned about his family's power, history, and influence within the wizarding world. He began to appreciate the menace that some people want to inflict upon him.

Even so, he was having quite a hard time tracking down the precise way that he could bypass the security measures and reach the cottage. There seemed to be an unusually high amount of secrecy in regards to this cottage and quite frankly it had Harry intrigued.

Even so he was quite sure that he was on the right track with this document, but he had an entire afternoon of spell work to finish. So with a rather reluctant sigh, Harry laid the document aside and began setting up another vase for his next spell.

_Several Hours Later_

While Harry had to admit that being able to finally do every spell on his list without a moments hesitation was exhilarating, he felt drained despite the two energy bars he had eaten and the fact that most of his physical activity for the day was simply moving his hand about.

A fleeting look at the clock told Harry that it was about time for him to get some rest and then begin again in the morning. If it weren't for the sudden ominous feeling that seemed to wash over him he would've been dead to the world in far off dreamland by now.

Harry did his best to shake the feeling but it only seemed to grow stronger with every passing second, Harry didn't waste any more time on thinking about it. He knew he had to get away from here or it'd be more then likely he wouldn't ever get away.

Despite the dread that seemed to be seeping into every part of Harry, he quickly and methodically packed up all his items in his leather satchel. With his wand and holster safely attached to his forearm, Harry was ready to depart for the Scottish Highlands.

He slowly opened to the door to check and see if the hallway was clear, despite his rational mind's declaration of irrationality at the situation. Logically he had no real reason to be worried, but he just couldn't shake that feeling of dread inside him.

Satisfied the hallway was at least clear, Harry headed for the checkout counter to let them know that he was leaving a few days early. It was only when he had almost turn the corner did he jerk to a stop, he could hear the voices of two distinctive men talking with the annoying frail old landlady.

"I already told ye, Mr. Potter does not want to be disturbed!" Her voice was a low harsh whisper but Harry still rolled his eyes in annoyance. So much for keeping his stay here a secret, what a complete and utter idiot.

"We don't have time for this; Lucius wanted the Potter boy dead!" An icy feeling began to creep up Harry's spine. So he wasn't turning into a paranoid maniac. Someone named Lucius wanted him dead but also had the resources to find out where he was and then send men to complete the job.

"Hooligans, I'm going to call the cops!" If Harry wasn't to busy analyzing his options, he would have groaned at her stupidity.

"Kill the muggle; we've got to find Potter!" Harry didn't have any notion of heroic self-sacrifice, an idiot would have tried to draw their attention and then lead them on some amazing chase where more then likely he would be injured, or worse caught and killed.

Harry was no hero and he was no idiot.

In his mind he could clearly see a map of the Moonlight Inn, there was a fire exit back towards his room and it seemed his best option for escaping. Without a further thought he turned and began running silently down the hallway, he swore that off in the distance he heard a few words and then out of the corner of his eye saw a flash of brilliant green light.

Somehow he doubted that he would ever learn that annoying old ladie's name now.

With that last thought as he focused on running faster, he soon turned the corner and saw the glowing exit sign. With a rush of short lived relief he ran toward it, only to dive and avoid an oncoming jet of purple light. He looked back to find that the two men dressed in flowing black robes with white masks and were currently pointing their wands at Harry's head.

"So this is the famous Harry Potter, I think Lucius is really going overkill on sending both of us." Harry's mind raced as he evaluated his options.

"May I inquire as to why you plan on killing me?" Harry kept his tone neutral, he needed to keep them talking while he came up with a plan.

"Simple, you see our employer has decided that you living is just… well… not good for his interests." The hooded man's tone was annoyingly pleasant as he seemed definitely happy at the possibility of getting such easy money.

"Indeed, may I enquire as to the identity of your employer before you send me out of this miserable world?" The hooded figure seemed to chuckle softly.

"Lucius Malfoy, he has paid quite a handsome little some for you to be taken out kid." Harry feigned a shocked look, he had an idea but it was going to require exact timing or he would be dead.

"Stop wasting time! We're supposed to kill the mudblood, not have a discussion with him!" The shorter of the hooded men said.

"Why not, he's not resisting and he seems to be taking his death like a gentleman." Harry could see the irony in the fact he was holding a pleasant conversation, with the men who had been sent to kill him.

"May I request you end it quickly, I'd rather not suffer." Harry couldn't see their masks but he swore he could feel the satisfied smile of the taller man.

"Ah. Well you see, Lucius wants you to suffer and well I've got to say that I'm inclined to follow his request." Harry didn't even bother to come up with a comeback for that one. He widened his eyes and pointed his finger at a seemingly invisible figure.

"The police are here!" Harry would have been the first to admit that his plan, lacked a certain finesse or style he would have preferred but sometimes the simplest things work. The cloaked men automatically shifted around to see what exactly a "please-man" was but the second they had realized there mistake, it was too late.

"**_Flashca Maxium." _**With his eyes firmly shut, Harry could still almost fill the burn as a blast of pure blinding white filled the entire room. While Harry might be uncomfortable, the two assassins didn't have the luxury of shutting their eyes and they took the blast full in the face.

Screams of agony instantly erupted in the room as the figures fell to the ground, their hands were desperately trying to shield their eyes but it was too late. Blood spewed from their ruined eyes, their continued screams only confirmed what Harry had predicted and hoped.

Such of a violent unpredicted flash of light had just liquefied their eyeballs, and probably destroyed a number of sensitive nerves in their eye sockets. Harry had hesitated to open his eyes for at least a full minute after the room had dimmed; he was going to take any chances that he might accidentally be hurt by an afterglow.

Upon cautiously opening one eye, Harry looked to see the two masked figures were still withering on the ground and had been reduced to a silent mix of sobbing and cursing. Harry carefully plucked their wands away from them and broke them over his knee for good measure.

"Now I'm not sure if you can hear me, but I want you to know that I don't appreciate the fact you were going to torture and kill me." His voice seemed to have a rather disturbing effect on each of them, as they had suddenly stopped moving and appeared to be trying to stop being so vocal about their pain.

"Now I understand that you had a job but you must be willing to accept this as a possible hazard in your line of work." No response issued forth from their mouth but Harry suspected that between a battle of wanting to insult Harry and not antagonize him to further violence was being waged by the now fallen assassins.

By their silence it was obvious which side was winning.

"Now I know you may think I am going to kill you now, well I'm not and not for the reasons you might want to believe." Harry figured it might be useful to capitalize on his victory with a little message to.

"You maybe believe that I'm sparing your lives because I'm really noble at heart or that I'm too squeamish to kill you in cold blood as you lay on the ground… helpless." Harry's voice was neutral but it seemed to be growing lower and more menacing with each syllable.

"Let me clarify something for you, I would have no problem simply reaching down and choking the life out of you and then watch it fade from your face." Harry swore he saw the smaller man begin to shake as he leaned down closer to them to add effect to his little drama.

"I'm sparing your lives for a simple reason, you're going to warn other people that the Potter family will not be trifled with and that I am not some helpless boy who whimpers in the night." Harry's face was now merely a few inches from the assassins and he savored the way that the smaller man was shaking uncontrollably.

"Now I'm going to leave, if I ever see you two gentlemen again I promise no torture no long lasting session of pain." Harry felt the dark humor inside him as he watched the taller man squirm with restrained terror.

"I will simply castrate you." The threat while short had the desired effect as the men naturally shifted to protect their family jewels.

With that threat still lingering in the air, Harry opened the fire exit door and stepped out into the street. He had a bus to catch.


	4. Emergence of a Lord

_********_

A/N I do usually try to avoid making any lengthy comments, I shall be brief as possible. I own an apology to my readers and reviewers for how long this chapter took. I could offer some excuses that some of you might understand, and some of you might not. The point is that I'm deeply sorry, your reviews have been far kinder then I would have expected and I felt compelled to not to simply rush a chapter, just so appear I could get more reviews. I'm also officially looking for a beta reader to help me with my grammar, and while I've done my best in this chapter I ask anyone who sees a glaring error to please point it out and I shall correct it. Now this chapter itself is meant as a prelude to Harry finally entering the wizarding world, and to all those kind reviewers is wondering about the books from Borgin. Don't worry, they play a rather interesting part next chapter. So without further rambling from this author, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and reviews are appreciated.

**Emergence of a Lord**

He didn't quite remember how he had fallen asleep, he vaguely thought it might be the gentle motion that the train seemed to produce, or perhaps it was the beautiful Scottish countryside that flew by his window. On the other hand, maybe having someone try to end your life was very tiring.

Suffice to say, Harry had little memory of the mad dash from the grizzly scene at the Moonlight Inn, or the train ticket he had bought for Edinburgh. He did remember his destination though, a small hut in the Scottish Highlands that his family owned.

Getting there seemed to have taken on a completely new level of urgency after his attempted assassination, despite that theatrical display he did for the assassins. He was deeply rattled, those men had meant to end his life and they had some how managed to track him down.

More disturbing was that some man named Lucius Malfoy had considered Harry enough of a threat to invest the time, and energy to hire assassins and track him down. Harry didn't exactly know why he was such a threat to this man, he had several theories but he would need time to research some information before he could come up with a plausible reason.

Obviously, Harry had realized his own mistakes; he should have made more of an effort to conceal himself in Diagon Alley. He didn't realize how far some people were willing to go to hurt him, and that lesson had almost cost him his life to learn.

He was determined not to remake the same mistakes as he had before, what type of billionaire was he if he couldn't even buy a little security? Harry knew that some people had to large of egos to consider buying security, learning that you could do magic and that you were heir to a large fortune might be enough to awe some people into a fall sense of security.

It had lulled Harry a little bit, and he was determined not to repeat the same mistake.

He knew almost nothing about magic, only through sheer dumb luck had Harry managed to escape the Moonlight Inn unscathed. Next time someone came to end his life, they would not be so foolish and Harry had little doubt that he had seen the last of the attempts on his life.

So it was these thoughts in mind that he was retreating to the safety of one of his families lesser known hideaways, it would give him a chance to formulate some new security arrangements for himself and plan his retaliatory attacks. He was not quite sure how he would seek his revenge but someone had taken a shot at his life.

If he failed to respond to this assault on him, others might perceive it as a sign of weakness or an invitation for further attacks. Harry was not going to give them a chance, he was going to strike back twice as hard and make them think twice before they thought him or his family weak.

Granted he hadn't the slightest idea of how he was to strike back, but for now, he had plenty of intent. Intent would have to suffice for now. His musings were interrupted at the sudden lurch of the train, he flicked his wrist and his wand appeared in hand.

It was more of a symbolic gesture really, he had done a decent theatrical performance back at the inn and he might have to repeat the performance. It was only a moment later that Harry had realized they had arrived in Edinburgh, with a sigh he put away his wand and quietly exited the train.

Aside from a minor disagreement with a very well intention, but annoying Scottish customs agent. Harry quickly got into a car that he had prearranged and settled down for the two-hour trip to the tiny village of Hampshire. It was a small quaint village on the Scottish coast, but it was also the closet bastion of civilization to his family's cottage.

Harry was not accustomed to wizarding homes, so he didn't know if he would have to buy supplies, or if they might some how magically appear. It was very disconcerting for someone who prided himself on his intelligence, but he knew that there was little he could do about it.

With that in mind he examined the well stocked mini-bar that had came with his rather pricy ride, Harry was not to keen on trying to down the contents of the entire cabinet, but he admitted that he was curious. After a quick examination of the different drinks, he choose a small bottle of bourbon.

Harry didn't know the proper etiquette for enjoying bourbon, so he just undid the top and downed a rather healthy dose. Which was immediately followed by a series of coughs and mixed curses, Harry forced himself to swallow the bitter concoction and then hastily screwed the cap back on.

How anyone grew to enjoy or even get addicted to something, so vile was beyond his imagination, the only guess he could make was it was an acquired habit. He eyed the mini-bar with distaste and absentmindedly noted that if anyone saw him right now he might be a tad embarrassed.

Determined not to indulge in anymore exploration, he retrieved his book on Attic Greek from his bag and began studying it some more. As always, he was soon lost track of the time and was drawn from his book as the driver opened the car door.

"Welcome to the village of Hampshire Mr. Potter." The driver's accent was a healthy mix of Irish and English and Harry thought the man had some type of higher education in his past. Which raised another question, why was an educated man driving a limo?

When he stepped out of the car his senses were immediately assaulted by the smells of the Scottish Highlands, the air was heavy with moisture and he could smell the woods that seemed to surround them. It was then he had noticed that the driver had pulled over to the side of the road just where it was about to sharply turn.

"I thought you would prefer not to arrive in such a grand fashion, this is a more secluded village and I imagine a luxury car would draw some attention." Harry eyed the man again, he was right of course and again he was wondering if this was typical behavior of a driver.

"I appreciate the gesture and I wish you a good day." The driver only smiled, and slipped into the car and drove off without any further comments.

"Potter your turning into a damned paranoid." He muttered this to himself as he started walking toward the village, he soon could begin to see the outlines of some of the larger buildings of Hampshire. They were made mostly from wood but there was a couple of brick ones.

It was a very…. rustic setting and Harry was grateful for that, he needed time away from everything so he could fully prepare himself for his eventual return to the wizarding world and this place looked like just the type of environment he would need.

Harry knew that it was best he head for his family's cottage first, if he needed to come back down and purchase supplies that was fine but he wanted to actually find the cottage first. The documents he had examined had told him to reach the cottage from the village he needed to find the path that led out of town and higher into the hills.

Harry knew that he would need to seek directions from someone, it about mid-morning but he hoped these people were a product of old work ethics and were early risers. Harry noticed very few people as he strolled into town; he did receive a few surprised looks from a couple of folks but no one made a move to speak with him.

Harry found a small stone building; it was one of those all purpose general stores that seem to exist in every small country town throughout the free world. The door chimed as he walked inside, behind an old style cash register was a frail looking old bald man.

"Good morning to you young sir." His thick Scottish accent made the words sound odd to Harry, but he figured he might have to get used to that.

"I'm just passing through and I was wondering if there are any paths around here that would lead deeper into the hills?" The man smiled a toothless grin and nodded.

"Aye lad, if you follow the road out of town for a mile or so you should find it no problem." Harry thanked the man and quickly exited the store. He was anxious to find the cottage so he took off down the road in a steady trot, he glanced a couple of times behind him to make sure he wasn't being followed but doubted that he would see anyone if they were there.

Harry knew that he was getting a lot more paranoid but he consoled himself with memories of the attempted assassination of his life only a few short days ago. Lucius Malfoy for some reason wanted him dead and Harry figured that if he didn't quickly get to the safety of his families home that he would eventually end up fulfilling Malfoy's wish.

With a renewed sense of urgency, Harry picked up the pace to a light jog and soon found the path just as the old shopkeeper had described it. It was a steady upwards climb and its extensive use was well evident to Harry as he walked along.

He was keeping his eyes peeled for the supposed branching off path that would lead to the cottage; it was a forty-five minute walk before Harry thought he saw the trail he was looking for. The beginning of the trail was partially grown over and it seemed like the Highlands was steadily reclaiming the underused trail bit by bit.

Harry began to make his way up the trail with a quick determined stride, another ominous feeling seemed to be spreading over Harry and he found himself constantly checking the woods around him for any sign of movement. He continued his steady stride for another hour or so but still didn't find anything resembling a cabin.

Harry was beginning to contemplate during back toward Hampshire, he had virtually not supplies and he was starving. He decided to make his way for another couple of minutes or so before he would head back, so with a sigh Harry set off up the trail.

Soon a few minutes turned to a half-hour and then a half-hour turned into another hour, by this time Harry was beginning to feel very dehydrated and desperately wished for something to eat. With a resigned sigh, he began to turn around to head back when his entire body stiffened.

Behind him stood what appeared to be a massive amount of rocks packed tightly together and suspended in midair, the creature had four appendages and had to be at least ten feet high. It had two glowing crimson eyes and their gaze was not very friendly.

"Who dare trespass on land that belongs to House Potter?" Its voice was slow and gravelly, but it seemed to reverberate throughout the entire Highlands. Harry steeled himself, as he stared directly into those demonic crimson eyes and spoke.

"Lord Harry James Potter." The creature remained unmoving for a few seconds before it began to bend down, Harry started to dive when he realized that the massive walking hulk of earth was attempting to bow to him.

"My Lord." The creature's voice held the unmistakable tone of subservience; he seemed to be waiting for Harry to speak.

"Who are you?" Harry had a pretty good idea of who exactly this thing was, but he wanted to confirm it just for sure.

"I'm the elemental guardian of this property for House Potter." Obviously, a well-rehearsed answer, Harry had a feeling that this guardian was as dumb as the rock he was made of.

"Can you take me to the Potter's cottage?" The only response Harry retrieved was himself being hoisted up so fast by a mass of rocks he didn't even have time to protest. It soon set off at a massive stride through the Highlands with surprising amount of grace for such a hulking collection of rocks.

Harry in a very undignified position was clutching as close as possible to the massive earth elemental as possible. He had some minor delusions of blasting the creature into dust, but even being dragged along did not distract his mind from pointing out the stupidity of those ideas.

Even with the massive strides the creature seemed to make, it took almost another forty-five minutes before Harry spotted a clearing up ahead. When the elemental burst out of the woods Harry was able to get a better view of the clearing, the cottage appeared to be a small tradtional looking cottage made of wood.

There was a small stream of crystal clear water that ran alongside the cabin, it didn't look much like the residence of a powerful wizarding family but Harry knew that looks could be deceiving. He was finally set down by the guardian and then spent the next few minutes regaining his sense of balance.

"Resume your patrol guardian." Harry heard the massive creature turn and soon he was gone vanishing back into the Highlands. Harry with a determined stride headed for the cottage, he was either going to get some food or curse his lack of forethought.

It was not like Harry to slack off, he had learned at a very early age that only fools make excuses for what they can and can't do. He hardened his resolve; it was his own foolish fault that he was feeling hungry and maybe a little rustic living would remind Harry not to get lost in the comforts that wealth and power brought.

He cautiously lay his hand down on the doorknob not quite sure what to expect, indeed what he did witness inside was not even close to the ideas of what he had formed in his mind.

_So much for a bit of rustic living._

It was obvious that the cottage's outward appearance must be some sort of deception, the inside was at least ten times larger then he would have guessed. Harry trudged down a winding staircase and soon came upon the living room; there was comfortable looking leather furniture and a rather hefty bookshelf off to one side.

Harry inwardly began to wonder how the house was such in good shape, he guessed that maybe it was some how magical but still it looked like he had been expected. Harry then turned to look for the kitchen, when for the second time that day he was stunned into silence.

The little creature had large, bat-like ears and bulging blue eyes the size of tennis balls, and was dressed in a very small pink silk dress. She seemed be to doing a curtsy when Harry finally noticed her, his first instinct was to dive for his wand, but on afterthought he didn't seem to getting any hostile vibes from the small creature.

"Who are you?" The elf immediately straightened up.

"My names Binky Lord Potter, I'm the house-elf attached to this property." Harry blinked; he thought elves were tall impossibly beautiful people with a fondness for bows.

"Is there a chance Binky I could get something to eat?' The house-elf nodded and with a soft pop she was gone, it happened so fast that Harry spent the next several seconds blinking furiously.

"Is every damn creature going to sneak up on me?" Harry was a bit annoyed with the ease he had been got unawares, he had usually considered himself a person that was hard to sneak up on. That idea seemed to be dying a quick death every second he spent in contact with something magical.

Feeling a bit of resentment for his ignorance, Harry sat down in one of the leather chairs and began to read his book on Attic Greek. He was starting to make a lot of leeway on understanding the language, and wished he could simply take a few days to sit down and enjoy the book.

Harry not realizing that almost an hour had passed before he was immediately distracted by the sudden appearance of food and drink. A plate that was stacked high with chicken sandwiches and a pitcher of some type of juice had some how appeared right beside him.

He was passed being surprised at the rather sudden appearance of things by now; he eagerly picked up one of the sandwiches and began munching on it. He took a second to savor the chicken before he went back to reading, he might not have appreciated her rather sudden entrance, but Binky was definitely a first rate cook.

Harry decided to allow himself the luxury of simply reading and enjoying dinner for the hour or so. He knew that tomorrow he would have to resume his training regiment, and he wanted at least one night of proper rest and relaxation. Soon though the afternoon was slowly creeping off into night and the wariness of the day's activities were beginning to tale their toll on Harry.

Normally he would have eaten some energy bars and drank a couple of nutritional potions, but today he had forgone his little ritual. With a final sigh, he closed his book and looked around for Binky, he really didn't want to spend the next couple of hours stumbling around looking for a room, and he hoped that the odd little creature might be able to point him in the right direction.

"Binky? Either he was too tired to be shocked by her sudden appearance, or maybe Harry had really gotten use to things appearing out of nowhere. Either way, there was Binky standing directly in front of him with that eager-to-please expression he had seen earlier.

'Yes Master Harry?" She looked anxious, or at least he thought she did.

"The meal was excellent Binky, I was wondering if you could show me to a bedroom." With a slight blush she nodded, Harry followed her down a long hallway and they stopped at the furthest room on the end, he nodded his thanks and quietly stepped inside without another word.

It was a spacious medium sized room with all the standard fixings of a guest room, only the quality of the materials used to construct the room would have hinted at wealth. Most of the furniture was made from highly polished cheery oak; also, the room was supremely neat.

It had the same air of neatness that his aunt had once demanded he do; he quickly shook his head to dispel thoughts of his equine faced aunt. Harry set his satchel down and quickly got undressed, with his eyes half closed and with his last bit of energy he snuggled under the covers, with one odd thought ringing in his mind as he drifted off to sleep.

_Hmm… silk sheets…_

* * *

With a soft groan and a muttered curse Harry Potter tried to bury himself back under the covers of his bed, he was usually an easier going morning person but today he simply wished to sleep in late for once. Despite his wishes, a voice in the back of his mind would not be silent.

_Too much of something is a bad thing_

Harry's mind was instantly cleared at that somber saying, he had been to dismissive of what had been happening the past couple of days but he couldn't avoid the truth forever. He knew that if he stayed on the path he was on now, he would loose his edge.

In merely a couple of days he had become sloppy and lazy, he was allowing himself to succumb to the comforts that wealth brought and that was dangerous indeed. He knew that if he didn't get back on track and soon that he might never get on track.

Therefore, it didn't surprise him much when he franticly jumped out of bed, to many people it might appear weird that Harry would berate himself for simply taking advantage of a few perks, but he knew the danger in doing so. Harry had led a hard life and while it had probably destroyed his childhood, and left him with enough psychological problems to make a psychiatrist wet himself, it did leave him with one good thing.

A determination as hard as steel, he either had two choices growing up with the Dursleys, become an emotional and physical wreck, or learn quickly how to fend and take care of himself. While it hadn't always been easy, Harry was proud of what he had managed to accomplish under the thumb of his relatives.

He had learned nearly six languages; he hadn't let his education suffer simply because his relatives had wanted him to remain dumber then Dudley (a feat that a trained hamster couldn't accomplish) or had he allowed himself to starve to death under his relative's restrictive food offerings.

Together these things served to remind Harry of who he was, with a renewed sense of purpose he strode from the room. He had slipped, it happened to everyone eventually and no one was infallible to making mistakes. Yet the important thing was that he had recognized his mistake, and was going to take measures to correct it.

With the morning rays of sun filtering through various windows, he could get a better picture of what the cottage looked like. The floors and walls were made from oak that was polished a pristine shine, there seemed to a rather unusual lack of paintings or any type of artwork around and Harry found this a tad unusual.

Didn't the rich splurge on such things?

Harry had liked to consider himself an intelligent person, and he really did try to find the awe and mysticism that most people attributed to pieces of paper with a little paint thrown on it. He just could never appreciate a painting he imagined the way they were supposed to be appreciated, he wasn't sure if that was a failing or mot.

Despite the distinctive lack of art around the cottage, it seemed like a warm and inviting place. As Harry explored the rooms, he came across a couple of them that might prove useful. There was a surprisingly modern looking exercise room, most of the equipment seemed to have been of muggle origin and could only have been a few years old.

Also it seemed that his family had decided the need for an armory in this get away cottage, of course the weapons were old fashioned and a fine mix of swords, axes, and assorted other weapons but Harry was still intrigued. What guy was not a little intrigued with the idea of waving a large sword around?

Despite these rather surprising finds, Harry admitted to himself that the library the most fascinating and frustrating part of the entire house. He desperately wanted to start pulling out random books, and start reading them. It was only his steely determination not to compromise his education in magic that reigned in his scholarly curiosity.

His last and probably most useful find was a rather large padded room, it seemed to be some sort of dueling chamber and he wondered if it might be some a training area. He would have to make further inquires to Binky, but he swore if it was that he would become intimately familiar with it.

For a minor summer get away cottage, the place was very impressive and it left Harry oddly wondering what the more opulent Potter estates looked like. It was a testament to his family's legacy and power, although Harry never knew any of his true family; he still felt the weight of their legacy on his shoulders.

He was the last of the Potters; if he died or failed to achieve anything but greatness in the wizarding world then it would have all been for naught. His entire family's history would end with him; it was a very humbling and heavy responsibility he realized.

With so many conflicting thoughts working around his head, he didn't even notice that Binky had been silently waiting behind him. When he did finally notice her, Harry was glad that he didn't jump up in fright and embarrass himself again.

"Good morning Binky, I hope you slept well?" The house-elf's face instantly flushed, and she lowered her head. Harry had a feeling that house-elf's were not used to such inquiries about their personal beings from their masters.

"Master is kind, did Master Potter sleeps well?" Harry nodded.

"You've done a magnificent job on this cottage Binky." Again, she flushed with embarrassment under his praise; she shifted nervously seeming not quite sure how to respond to it either.

"I'd like some breakfast to be served after my run, and if you could change the sheets on my bed to something simpler I would appreciate it." Binky's head shook vigorously, and with a pop, she was gone. Harry went back to his room, and rooted around in his satchel.

He found a pair of faded sweat pants and a simple white t-shirt that he changed into. It was a good morning for a run, and the cold mountain air allowed Harry time to begin planning his day. He decided to stick to the path he had used to get up the mountain; it was also probably the only place he could jog for an extended period of time without hitting trees or rocks.

As he slowly jogged, Harry began to mentally assess his current situation and do his best to add recent events into his training schedule.

It was a complicated situation at best, but Harry decided to continue with the learning routine he had established at the Moonlight Inn, but he would begin working in the duel room and hopefully begin not to be so helpless. All he needed was time.

He decided to up his pace, as he broke into a steady sprint that carried him all the way back to the cottage and inside back into the living room. It took him a couple of minutes to recover his breath, and only then did he notice the plate of food beside him.

It seemed like there was a bit of everything on the plate, and Harry ate wolfishly for a number of minutes before he began to eat at a slower pace. Beside the plate that contained his breakfast was a number of letters and on top was a large green parcel but it was the address that caught Harry's attention.

_**Lord Harry James Potter**_

_**Location Unknown**_

While Harry was grateful that for some reason they couldn't detect his location, he was still surprised by the letter and he hastily turned it over and broke the wax seal. He pulled off the top letter and began to read silently to himself.

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme_

_Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Lord Potter,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts_

_School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It should be noted that under the treaties signed between your family and the board of governors, that you fully acknowledge that Hogwarts and the surrounding lands are neutral grounds and thus cannot be used to further any feuds between other families etc._

_Violating these, treaties will have severe repercussions, and will cause your immediate expulsion._

_Term begins on September 1. We await your reply by no later than July 31._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall,_

_Deputy Headmistress_

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

_UNIFORM_

_First-year students will require:_

_1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)_

_2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_

_3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_

_4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)_

_5. One Dueling Robe (optional)_

_6. Proper Weapons Dueling Gear_

_7. Wand Holster _

_8. Dress Robes_

_Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags and that while more expensive material is allowed it's not encouraged_

_COURSE BOOKS_

_All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk_

_A History of Magical Britain by Bathilda Bagshot_

_Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling_

_A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emetic Switch_

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore_

_Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger_

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander_

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble_

_Elementals The Truth The Myth The Way by Serena Summerset_

_Runic Magic The Beginning Runes By Gerard Nepple_

_The Proper Etiquette and Steps of Dueling by Seth Zabini _

_First Circle Ritual Magic by Madam Doworty _

_OTHER EQUIPMENT_

_wand cauldron (pewter or gold, standard size 2) set_

_glass or crystal phials_

_telescope set_

_brass scales_

_circle one ritual magic kit_

_wand care kit_

**Students are allowed to bring a broom and pet but reminded that Hogwart's is not responsible for misplaced or stolen items.**

While Harry had expected this letter for some time, he still couldn't help, but feel a sense of euphoria taking over him. He would soon be attending the school in which his parents had; he soon would be truly taking on the mantle of Lord Potter, and for the first time in a very long while.

Harry James Potter was afraid.


	5. One Last Stroll

**_A/N It seems my promises to update this story are rarely being achieved, I won't bore you with the details of my computer crash because I don't really think it's a good enough excuse. All I can hope is that even after so much time has passed, you still enjoy this latest edition. By the way, I know that a lot of fan authors write Harry studying magic and they try to make him uber powerful._**

**_ This is not the case in my story._**

**_Trust me.  
_  
**

** One Last Stroll**

He deftly raised the rapier, and the deflected a series of furious blows from a figure who was encased in dueling gear. Harry was slowly being driven back as he tried to block his opponent's furious blows.

Sweat was pouring down his face, and Harry couldn't even manage to find a way to strike back before he felt a burning sensation across his chest. He softly cursed himself as he set the training rapier down.

"Binky?" Harry heard a soft distinctive pop behind him, and felt the small ripple of magic sent silently throughout the area.

"Does Master Potter needs healing again?" Harry smiled softly to himself; and looked down at the crimson line across his chest.

"Yes please Binky." He waited for the inevitable soft sigh from the house-elf, and closed his eyes as he felt a cooling sensation wash over him that ended the burning that was coming from his chest.

"Will Master Harry need Binky's services again today?" It was a subtle rebuke, but Harry could only smile.

"Not right now Binky." While it wasn't quite the promise he knew his loyal house-elf wished for, Harry didn't want to lie to her. Binky although was a magically bound servant to his family, she had proved her value over the last two months.

It seemed like the last two months had been a whirlwind of activity for Harry, aside from the fact that he finally had time to begin learning the basic tenants of magic. Magical puberty had hit him very swiftly, just as the book had said it would.

He had grown to a rather surprising solid 6'0 and his shoulders had began to broaden, he had also added more hard compact muscle to his lean frame. It had been a hard battle to build up the muscle on his frame, but he took a lot of pride in his appearance.

He decided to keep his hair cut stylishly short, and it seemed to compliment the features of his maturing face that had became more defined over the weeks. Harry was not exactly sure if he could judge himself fairly, he thought he was a decent looking bloke, but he hadn't a chance to test out the theory.

His studies were steadily progressing, there were almost an endless amount of spells in the wizarding world and Harry had been forced to selective in the ones he learned. He usually focused on a more powerful version of a certain spell; it would allow him the advantage of getting the best possible effect.

Even being selective didn't stop Harry from learning many new spells; he hadn't actually calculated the total yet but he was considering it. Of course, those were divided between hexes, charms, and all the other magical subjects he had been studying.

Harry particularly found runic magic interesting; it seemed that every wizarding culture from the past five thousand years had spawned there own version of runes. Harry enjoyed simply trying different runic combinations, and seeing what the effects were. He had even managed to create a temporary runic barrier that had trapped the elemental guardian for a few seconds.

While at first glance this might not seem like an impressive feat, but Harry had taken time to study elemental guardians in the library. The creatures are extraordinarily powerful and rare, their magically resistant skins are one of the reasons they were in such high demand as guards.

His progress in the dueling ring was coming along rather slowly; Harry didn't exactly expect himself to be throwing spells out like a modern day John Wayne but he still was a little miffed with his progress. He could usually duel with a training dummy for about five minutes, before he was soon overcome.

His weapon training wasn't exactly inspiring either.

Much of his practice had been with a rapier, he had mastered the basic forms but the dueling itself was a tad more complicated. Now as Binky tended to point out, Harry did have the settings of each dueler on a higher level then recommended and he sometimes resorted to dueling with two magical dummies.

How could Harry explain the rush of euphoria to her? When Harry dueled, he felt alive, it was a primal test of skill and knowledge, Harry found the same satisfaction in weapons dueling to. He constantly was pushing himself to the limits, and Binky routinely had to heal him after his training sessions.

A job she did with far more annoyance then Harry thought proper.

Yet Harry was becoming fully aware of the dangers he faced in the wizarding world, his studies into wizarding history while enlightening and exhilarating were also quite troubling. It almost seemed that most of the major wizarding families were in a state of constant cold war.

Political battling, economic battling, and the old standard of just trying to kill the other, the Potter's had particularly long history of producing strong wizards who were more then able in the arts of war. Harry felt a certain sense of pride in that; he pushed himself so hard because he was now the last of his line.

The last Potter

Yet for all the intensive studying and training that Harry had subjected himself to the past two months. He wasn't a fool; he realized that there was an enormous amount about the wizarding world that he didn't know, and much of it didn't extend to magic.

Politics was a game that seemed to be ingrained upon the heirs of powerful wizarding families since birth; they were trained as scions of their respective houses. The experts of many fields were brought in to help groom and instill knowledge within their heads, and hopefully help craft a more powerful heir.

Harry head been learning for about two months

While he knew suffered disadvantages, Harry also had some other things going for him. He knew he was brilliant, it was not a statement formed out of arrogance or egotism but simply the truth. Harry knew that his intelligence was one of the major advantages he had, and he was using it, to the best of his ability.

Oddly, it was the writings of an ancient muggle philosopher who Harry turned for much of his teaching, he studied the works of Niccolo Machiavelli. His ideas intrigued Harry, and his writings had the doses of cynicism that Harry felt were needed. He was not looking for a historical figure to emulate, but he was looking for political theory he could use to construct his own style.

He was pulled from his musings by the shriek of some type of particularly large owl he guessed, he strode swiftly into the dining room, and found Binky in the midst of trying to take a letter from a rather large and menacing looking golden eagle hawk owl.

"Bad owl, you give Binky Master Potter's letter!" Harry watched with amusement as the owl and house-elf struggled, but when a particularly vicious swipe that almost raked Binky's face Harry decided it was time to make himself known.

"Binky, I'll get the letter." Harry walked toward the owl slowly and kept his gaze steadily locked with the bird's golden irises', attacking a servant was one thing, but if that owl made a swipe at him then he would break its neck. He took the roll of parchment quickly and watched as the owl immediately disappeared through an open window.

"Binky in the future, I shall retrieve my own letters." His words were not mean but there was a subtle rebuke in his tone, the house-elf glanced downward at the floor and appeared to trying to hide her shame.

"Now I would really appreciate some of your magnificent green tea Binky." She nodded quietly and was gone with a soft pop, Harry hated having to be stern with Binky and he usually did his best to be gentle with his criticisms, but sometimes a little humiliation was a good thing for a servant.

Binky was his servant and he expected certain things from her, but he also knew that he had certain responsibilities to her to. One of them was to keep her from danger, and next time she tried intimidating a creature like that, she might be seriously injured.

He quickly returned his thoughts to the letter, it was addressed to simply "Lord Potter" and the wax seal was also a coat of arms. Two wands crossed into an X and a large M in the middle, with his curiosity growing Harry tore open the seal and examined the parchment inside.

_**Lord Potter, **_

**_Your presence is hereby requested on the 29th of August for the opening session of this year's Wizengamot, the Wizengamot is also aware that while at your age you might not be ready to take on the responsibilities that go along with such a grave burden. If you feel that this is true, then we encourage you to wait for a more appropriate time and promise to ensure your families honorable position._**

_**Respectfully,**_

_**The Office of Cornelius Fudge**_

Harry wasn't exactly surprised that he was being summoned, his family held a lot of power in the Wizengamot and he knew that as the reigning head of family he was obligated to attended. Although it seemed by the tone of the letter that Minister Fudge would have been more then willing to let him stay away for a couple more years.

As if that would happen

Even with his inexperience, Harry was determined to make the Wizengamot session, his family hadn't been represented in almost twelve-years, and Harry was a little shocked that Fudge hadn't already tried to hijack his family's seat.

With his goal to make the Wizengamot session Harry had to prepare, he figured a letter to the Ministry would give him an outline on the topics that were up for debate. Then Harry could get a chance to examine each of the subjects in length.

If it was something that was going to cause more harm then good he would have terminate it or at least attempt to, if he could do something good along the way, well then he would. Harry knew his own morals weren't exactly the code of chivalry of ancient knights.

Then again most knights had been murdering, raping, warmongers who represented the worst that humanity had to offer, if Harry could do something good along then way and not hurt himself well then he was all for it. That reminded him, he would have to find several charities to make large donations to.

He figured public good will would be on his side, but it never hurt to add a little extra to the mix. With these thoughts in mind Harry found a piece of parchment, and scrawled a request for the itinerary of the Wizengamot session.

He would give the letter to Binky who would go to an owl messaging service, and send the letter off. His debut in the wizarding world was a little more then a month off, and he still had a long way to go. With a tired sigh, he headed into the dining room to await Binky's green tea.

* * *

Einstein's theory of relativity was often put into far more complex terms in Harry's opinion then necessary, everyday there were examples if seemingly time standing still and time flying. This month had been a rollercoaster of both, apparently word of his return to the wizarding world had been leaked. 

It had taken him only a moment to figure out his mistake, he had sent a letter to the Ministry requesting the itinerary. Someone must have leaked the information; it was a stupidly simple mistake and ones he couldn't afford to make.

He had of course punished himself.

Harry wasn't one of those self-mutilating sorts who slashed their wrists for every little mistake; he had simply told Binky that he would only drink water for that week. As a self-confessed caffeine junkie, this was a little hard for him, but he didn't have the luxury of making such mistakes and self-discipline was a must for him.

That week had been hell.

Everyone has their little vices, wither you're the Pope or a serial killer. Harry's just happen to be a love for pop, it was his little own vice. So deprived of his caffeine, he had a couple of instances of rather uncontrollable anger.

Although the weapons dummy could be remade with little effort

His dueling lessons were progressing a little better; he had of course upped the scale a bit higher. Harry knew that a practical approach would be to master every level, and then move onto the next ones. Harry's method was a more trial by fire approach.

It wasn't so bad that he was hopelessly beaten each time, and learning nothing. Yet it was quite challenging, and his attitude to broken bones was becoming alarmingly casual. Binky his personal healer was a tad bit less enthused with his training regiment.

His musings on broken bones and relativity was cut short by a purple jet of light flying toward his head.

"**Desugano**." Harry fired off his own curse as he casually sidestepped the jet of purple light; sometimes it was a simple matter of geometry. The masked figure simply twirled its wand, and batted aside his curse as if were nothing.

Harry continued to keep moving and occasionally ducking, he was now having spells from three sides shot at him. He fired off three curses in quick succession, and grimaced to himself as he felt a slash open on his right shoulder.

"**Twirla, Twirla, Twirla**." Highly focused gusts of wind flew from the tip of Harry's wand, and sent one of the figures spiraling back into the wall with an audible crack. Harry barely had time to avoid a rather nasty boil hex as he shot of his own stinging hex.

"**Bentra Lupix**." A great swirl of smog steadily came out from one of the attacker's wand, and soon the entire dueling room was filled with the noxious gas. Harry having learned his lesson from an earlier duel cast the bubblehead charm on himself.

"**Revealo Heato**." Immediately Harry's vision changed, he saw an unusual amount of blues tinged with other colors, the spell was an old Gaelic hunting spell that allowed the caster to see the body heat of an animal or in this case of an attacker.

Harry steadily moved through the fog as his eyes constantly swept around for the tell tale orange hue, the smog was making it hard to find them and the duelers themselves seem to give off little body heat. Harry continued his search for nauseating two minutes before he hit the ground.

He had seen the jet of green light out of his peripheral vision had only his reflexes saved him from the spells unkind effects. He muttered a few words and slashed his wand in the direction of his attacker; he watched as his opponents arm fell to the ground and disappeared.

"**Zepta Zoron**." A small ball of black magic leapt from his wand and sailed straight into his opponent's forehead and through its skull. Harry didn't take the time to watch the figure fall to the ground; he was scanning around for the final opponent when his world exploded in pain.

He felt himself being hurled through the air as he crashed into the wall, his back felt like it was on fire and he pain was surging through his system clouding his mind. He might have been screaming, but he was too caught up in pain to realize it.

It seemed ages before he felt a cooling sensation begin to spread throughout his body, the pain rapidly subsided and he began to become more aware of his surroundings. Harry chanced a glance up and found Binky was openly glaring at him.

_She's never going to let me forget this…._

"Master Potter is taking to many risks; he could have died if Binky hadn't come around!" Binky's voice was almost shrill as she began to stomp around ranting about the stupidity of dueling in general. Harry decided to let her blow off some steam while he tried to figure out what happened.

He could remember the feeling of his skin suddenly bursting with pain as he felt like his entire back was being scorched off. Then faint sent of burned meat in the air contributed to Harry's theory that he had been blasted full in the back by a blast of elemental fire.

He gently probed the area with his hand, but all he found was smooth unblemished skin. Binky was really quite a useful little elf to have around. He slowly attempted to stand, and found that while he was tired he suffered no noticeable ill effects from his injury.

Binky by this time had finished her outburst and was not in the midst of trying not to fidget too much. Her posture was defeated, and she looked almost ready to cry. Her shame was evident in her face, and Harry felt a bit bad for her.

"Binky I'm glad that you were here to save me, and I promise you that I will in the future attempt to avoid being caught off guard so easily." Binky continued to stare at the ground, and Harry let out a sigh.

"Could you please prepare my cloths, I've got to be off soon." Binky nodded and was gone; Harry stretched for a few minutes and then headed for his bedroom.

* * *

Dressed in a simple pair of blue jeans and a black hoody, Harry emerged from the Floo connection with a rather undistinguished stumble and curse. 

His first stop was a slow walk into **Flourish and Blott's.**

The story was surprisingly busy and Harry had to spend a few minutes just waiting in the line to reach the haggard but pretty auburn haired attendant. The perpetual growl on her face seemed to vanish when she noticed Harry, and in its place a shy, more apperceive smile appeared.

Harry instinctively returned the smile and made a point to stare directly into her eyes as he put a small piece of paper on the cash register. He let her gaze linger on him for a few seconds before he gently motioned toward the piece of paper.

"Could you please retrieve all the books on that list?" The girl with surprising speed grabbed the list and sped away, Harry thought he might have seen a hint of blush on her soft features but he wasn't sure. He was sure though that the rather sizeable amount of people in line behind him were very indignant for having to wait.

It only took a few minutes before the girl came hustling back with his books, Harry kept his eyes trained on her as she laid the books down on the cash register and started tallying them up. When she was finally done, she looked up at Harry with same shy smile.

"Twenty galleons." As Harry reached for his money pouch, he let a small smile slip to his face.

"Can I ask your name?" The girl flushed slightly.

"Heather." Harry's grin widened, he counted out twenty galleons, and then an extra thirty.

"Here is the payment for the books, and here is a tip for the wonderful service and beautiful smile." Heather looked at the stack of galleons in a mix of shock and embarrassment.

"My name is Harry Potter, and I think I'll see you around." Without a backward glance, Harry put the books in a small leather satchel he was carrying, and strolled out. His heart was racing madly and Harry was beginning to sweat a little as he strolled away from Flourish and Blotts.

That had been one of the most terrifying moments of Harry's life, he hadn't really planned on flirting with the cash register attendant and the thought of what he had just done still made him a little queasy. He knew absolutely nothing about flirting or relationships with woman.

Like all magical children his puberty had come far earlier then muggle children so he doubted there would be such a cultural taboo about sex, but that didn't mean he still wasn't scared stupid. He had never had a father or brother to explain about the proper ways to charm a girl and so everything he did back at Flourish & Blotts had been straight on instinct.

Harry's first impulse was to find a couple dozen books on the subject and do some research but somehow that seemed wrong to him. Researching sex was a different matter entirely, he could use the information and techniques he learned in books but somehow he doubted that most of what he would find in books about flirting and stuff would be useful.

He was going to have to simply follow his instincts and learn from his mistakes, while still analyzing his approaches to flirting and sex in general Harry strolled over to **Madam Malkin's**. He was going to need some new robes for his meeting at the Wizengamot.

Thankfully, this shop was a little more abandoned, and Harry was instantly greeted by a number of apprentice seamstresses.

"May we help you sir?' While a couple of the girls were giving Harry some appreciative looks with their eyes, they were thankfully not going to let his appearance affect them as much as poor Heather did.

"I would like to see Madam Malkin please." The apprentice smiled sadly but shook her head.

"I'm afraid that Madam Malkin is terribly busy, but I promise you that were more then able to meet your needs." Harry's demeanor instantly changed, his eyes narrowed ever so slightly and his posture became more rigid.

"If Madam Malkin would like to continue to have the business of the House Potter, then I highly suggest you inform her to become available." His tone was soft but there was an underling steel in his voice that made the apprentice blink in surprise.

"House Potter?" Harry waited for the full implication of his sentence to take effect, it was amusing to watch the expressions on the apprentices faces change from shock, confusion, and then to horror.

"P. Pl… Please wait right here milord." Harry nodded lightly as the girl turned and almost flew into the backroom. It only took a few moments before was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve appeared from the backroom curtain.

"Lord Potter I must humbly apologize for my apprentices, no insult was meant and if you would be so kind as to follow me into the backroom I would be delighted to help you personally." Harry nodded and followed Madam Malkin into the back, as he did though he shot a small smile at the apprentices before they vanished into the backroom.

Harry was lead to a stool where he was instructed to stand on; Harry waited patiently as she poked him with her wand and muttered silently to herself. The entire process took only a few minutes, and Harry was grateful for that.

She jabbed a little harder then he entirely thought necessary.

"Ah yes, I'm right in assuming that you have come for your lords robes?" Harry nodded.

"I believe arachnidan spun silk will do very nicely for you." Harry did his best not contemplate wearing a robe made out of the silk from a spiders belly, and decided to just simply nod.

"I've got the perfect idea, and I promise it shall be ready within the hour." Harry nodded in thanks.

"The first meeting of the Wizengamot is today Madam, I want to remind the wizarding world exactly what my family represents and if I'm disappointed with your work." Harry let out his voice trail off and watched her nodded acknowledgement.

"I promise you shall be satisfied Lord Potter or I shall retire my needle." Harry nodded solemnly trying to hide his amusement.

"Then I shall leave you to your craft." Harry smiled and walked out of Madam Malkin with amusement dancing in his emerald eyes.

"Get out of our way you ingrate." Harry's body stiffened as he turned to find two extremely well dressed males, one was older with long flowing blond hair and strong handsome aristocratic features. Beside him was obviously his son, his hair was shorter but it framed his features well.

"Did you not hear me?" The boy's tone was tight and controlled but with just the barest hint of threat underlined, Harry knew instantly that he was dealing with some very powerful people.

"Silence Draco, we beg your pardon Lord Potter we didn't realize who you were." Harry let his eyes slide slowly to the young man and then back to the older one.

"Perhaps in the future you should teach your son some manners, but I'm afraid you have me at a loss, I don't know your name." It was a double-edged insult; one toward the younger mans son and another to the man's obvious vanity.

"I'm Lord Lucius Augustus Malfoy, and this is my son Draco Daemon Malfoy." Harry felt his blood instantly begin boil, and he had to call up all his limited training to keep his features composed. This was the man who had sent assassins after him, right here standing before him.

"Indeed Lord Malfoy, your reputation precedes you." A ghost of a small smug smile played upon his lips for only a fraction of a second before his stoic mask reappeared.

"All good I hope?" His tone was casual and so completely normal that Harry couldn't help but admire the man's acting abilities.

"Indeed, the entire Wizarding world is aware of your families many contributions." Harry's remark only earned an eyebrow from Lucius.

"Well thank you Lord Potter, and if you would be so kind as to excuse us we have business to attend to." Harry faked a smile and stood his ground making the Malfoy's walk around him as they departed. It was a rather small and pathetic victory but he would take what he could get.

Harry knew his time was running out, he was expected to arrive at the Ministry of Magic in a few hours and he still needed to get dressed. He decided to cut the rest of his little shopping adventure short, he would make one quick stop and then come back for his robe.

Harry's need for a couple of owls had become painfully obvious in his time in the Highlands and he figured it was important that he get a couple soon. The Magical Menagerie was the shop Harry found after about a half-hour of strolling around Diagon Alley.

The first thing that Harry instantly noticed as he entered the store was the smell; it reminded Harry of a barn he had once visited. Rows of cages lined every shelf and there was a constant stream of hissing and jabbering, Harry found himself examining a number of intriguing animals.

A gigantic tortoise with a jewel-encrusted shell sent Harry a threatening glare before turning away and burying his head in some sand. Harry continued to stroll through the store examining the different owls, they all appeared to be strong healthy specimens but Harry for some reason didn't feel right buying them.

He continued his explorations until he found himself in one of the more secluded corners, his gaze fell upon a beautiful snowy white owl that had the largest amber eyes he had ever seen. Enthralled by her gaze, he found himself walking over to examine her closely.

She was smaller then most of the owls, but she looked to be in impeccable health and deep in here eyes shone a sharp intelligence. Harry carefully picked up the cage, and headed for the register, the attend tent was a board looking middle aged man.

"Sir might I suggest you look into another owl, this animals bloodlines are quite questionable and she has been promised to a certain seer." Harry blinked; his mind instantly whirled into action as he tried to decide what need a seer might have for an owl. Aside from an obvious one, Harry felt a small chill creep into his system.

"Do you mean this seer intends to spill this owl's guts in an attempt to read the future?" The attendant blinked in surprised, but nodded.

"Aye, so maybe I could interest you in a Golden Eagle Owl." Harry ignored the attendant as he looked back at the snowy owl, she stood stoically on her perch and Harry couldn't help but admire her for that.

"I shall pay you five galleons for this owl." His speech on the value of a good eagle owl interrupted, the attendant glared with distain at Harry.

"I've already told you boy, she's not for sale." Icy anger began to creep through his veins; with a deliberate slowness Harry turned his murderous emerald gaze on the attendant.

"You'll take five galleons for her, and if you value your life then I suggest you simply nod." Harry's voice was low and held the promise of a horrible fate to those who disagreed. Frozen with surprise, the attendant merely watched as Harry dropped the five gold coins, and disappeared.

As Harry angrily strode away from the The Magical Menagerie he found himself itching to go back, and set that attendant on fire. It was only when he was half-way down the street did Harry realize the full implication of his threat.

Usually such a threat would be considered idle, something spoken out of anger, but Harry had the power to make that threat a reality. It was a humbling thought, he could have that attendant's life snatched away simply on a whim.

His anger quickly faded.

Harry didn't really consider himself a violent person, he knew that violence could be used to solve problems and was more then willing to use it if he thought he must, but having someone killed simply because he lost his temper, was not an acceptable trait.

He continued to ponder these thoughts as he made his way back toward Madam Malkins, Harry knew that he could hardly get fitted for his dress robes while lumbered down with an owl. He paused to consider his situation, and found himself studying snow white beauty.

"I'm not quite sure what to do here." A solemn unblinking amber stare was her only response; Harry sighed and unlocked the cage. The owl cautiously strolled onto Harry's arm, her sharp talons dug into the soft flesh of his arm.

"You seem an intelligent sort, I'm going to let you go and just assume that you can find your way to the cottage." Blinking owlish eyes was her only response, before she jumped off him arm and soon disappeared into the sky.

Hopefully she would be able to find the location of the cottage, and at the worst she would simply be free. Either way she wasn't going too gutted by some insane seer, so Harry was satisfied.

He quickly strode the rest of the way to Madam Malkins, he knew that time was beginning to become a precious commodity. He quietly entered the store, and found himself in the middle of a chaotic stampede of apprentice seamstresses.

He watched the chaos with a little amusement before loudly clearing his throat, as if suddenly petrified all the apprentices stopped, and turned to Harry.

"I'm here for my robes." An eerie silence descended upon the shop, and Harry was torn between amusement and annoyance.

"Indeed Lord Potter, I think you shall be most pleased." The squat witch let him into the back, and there in the center on a mannequin were supposedly his robes.

Not very impressing from a distance.

From a distance it appeared to be a simple flowing black robe, as Harry got closer he began to see the qualities of the robe that were hidden from a distance.

The material was a liquidly opalish black; he let his hand gently slide over the material and was reminded vaguely of a pure silk sheet he had once felt at the Dursley's. So enthralled by the texture and the coloring of the robe Harry almost missed the symbol near the right breast.

A solid silver colored circle as the background, and a fierce black phoenix with its wing spread out in defiance. It had burning emerald eyes, and it took Harry a moment to realize that the dark phoenix was actually moving.

It was very majestic, and Harry wondered why exactly it had been placed onto his robes.

"Madam Malkin..." His voice trailed off as she strode up beside him.

"The symbol of your house, I did my best to capture its essence." Realization flooded over Harry, this majestic rising dark phoenix, with fierce emerald eyes was the symbol of his house.

He was quite stunned; it took a few more minutes before he was fully ready to speak.

"Madam, I shall be glad to continue our businesses relationship, your work is exquisite." The squat witch nodded happily, and they spent a few more moments staring at the robes in silence before Harry's internal sense of time forced him to break his gaze.

"Send the bill to my Gringott's account, and I would appreciate it if you wrapped this up." A quiet nod was her only response, and Harry had a feeling that she felt this robe watching moment was a bit more solemn then he did.

It only took a few moments for Madam Malkin herself to wrap up his dress robes, with one final thanks Harry was off sit in the chair that hadn't been occupied by a member of his family in over eleven years.


	6. Wizengamot

**_A/N Hello there again, obviously it's been a while since my last update but joining the Army has a way of sucking up ones time. Now I want to state a couple of things about this chapter, it touch's on a couple of sensitive subjects and I shall make no apologizes for the views expressed in here, obviously they don't represent anyone important so don't worry. I would also like to warn you dear reader that while I've done my best to find any grammar errors, I spent five hours last night pounding out this chapter and thus am very groggy at this moment. I will obviously do my best to fix any errors I come across after I've got a couple hours of proper sleep in me. As to the question of the pairings of this fic, they will be very many different pairings as you will see in upcoming chapters, but I will say definitely now that Harry is straight, this is and will never be a slash fic. I also want to ask you to bear with me, I realize that it seems like this might be dragging out but I specifically wrote this chapter with the intent of getting the rest of the world setup. The next chapter will have Harry at Hogwarts and shall reveal the first of clues about the mysterious powers of the Sorcerer's Stone. Anyway sorry for the long authors notes, remember that while reviews are appreciated, they are not required. So enjoy, and R/R if you could._  
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**Chapter 6**

**Wizengamot**

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* * *

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Surprised.

That is the term that Harry would best you to describe the greeting at the entrance to the Ministry of Magic, there were large crowds of random people, reporters, security guards, etc. It was like they were awaiting stars on some type of red carpet.

Harry had phoned ahead to rent a wide stretch limousine to arrive in, he hoped there was not some special procedure that he needed to adhere to. He had barely enough time to review the information on the three important topics the Wizengamot would be reviewing today.

_What topics to._

Harry considered himself lucky in the respect that he was going to be able to vote on two of the most important pieces of legislation to come through the British Ministry of Magic in a long time. Each of these issues had enough controversy to inspire a feeding frenzy separately; together they would only make his reappearance into the Wizarding World bigger then before.

When the limo started finally rolling to a stop, Harry gently caressed the exquisite material that made up his robe, his finger eventually landed on the symbol of his family. He traced the outline of it quietly, before taking one last second to school his features stoically.

With a deep breath he quietly stepped out of the door that seemed to magically open only a few seconds before he touched it. Flashes of light completely engulfed Harry's vision as screaming reporters began trying to push through the security guards at the gate.

"Lord Potter a question…"

"Where have you been all this time…?"

"Will you respect a witches right to choose…."

"Have you been saved…?"

"Will you be attending Hogwarts…?"

"Lord Potter has a wife been named..."

Harry's only response was to wave politely, he was escorted to the phone booth entrance of the MOM by Auror's who were dressed in their ceremonial white robes, the symbol of the Ministry embedded on the backs of their robes.

He was met by a short cute brunette; she was about four inches smaller then him, dressed in a purplish robe.

"Lord Potter, I'm Eva and I've been selected by the Minister to help you incase you have any questions."

"That would be lovely Miss…" Eva waved him off with a shy smile.

"You can call me Eva Lord Potter." Harry nodded, he had planned to dismiss any help that the Minister provided but perhaps he could use this do his advantage.

"Then I insist in private you call me Harry, now let us head off into the direction of the chambers." Eva nodded but was a little surprised when Harry offered an arm, (something he almost instantly regretted) she embarrassingly took it and they both started off after a procession of other Wizengamot council members.

"I'm not sure if you know this or not Lord Potter, but strictly speaking you were suppose to arrive along with the other senior members of the Wizengamot." Harry feigned surprised, in reality he was completely aware of that fact, and had planned it intentionally so he didn't arrive with them.

"Oh well, I do hope the Minister won't mind." Eva shook her head promptly; they were fast approaching the official announcer.

"The Minister told me personally to convey his deep felt appreciation for your attendance, the wisdom of your family has long been missed inside these hallowed chambers." Harry feigned delight and smiled widely.

"I shall have to thank the Minister on his excellent choice for a guide." Eva blushed and stuttered thanks. They casually parted ways as Harry stepped up to the Ministry announcer whose booming voice echoed throughout the Wizengamot chambers.

"**Announcing his lordship Lord Harry James Potter, Last Scion of the House of Potter, Tamer of the Black Phoenix, Defier of the Crown, and Senior Lord of the Wizengamot." **Harry was completely in the dark about what some of those titles meant.

_What the hell is a defier of the crown?_

He didn't have a chance to muse on the issue as he walked down the isle and toward the highest benches; the room itself was an extraordinarily large stone dungeon. Thousands of candles floated around the room illuminating the occupants.

There were of course the 170 members of the Wizengamot made up of minor families whose titles were all inherited directly from their ancestors. The five most powerful families of the British wizarding world sat upon the center and highest benches in the chamber.

The Malfoy's, Blacks, Changs, Dumbledore's, and of course the Potters. Each family was among the top of Wizarding Britain, but who actually was the strongest was a matter of continuing debate, and conflict. Harry knew that his family was probably the least strongest out of all these respective members, and he had a feeling that they sensed this weakness.

Representing the Malfoy's was one Lucius Malfoy, his beautifully cut robes and handsome aristocratic features were worn with an aura of aristocratic arrogance. Tow Min Chang was a short elderly man of 5'6 with strong Asian features who looked like a favored grandfather, but any image of weakness was immediately dispelled by his piercing azure gaze which was aimed directly at Harry.

Albus Dumbledore was dressed in long flowing lilac robes, he sat with a calm cool composed manner and a soft pleasant smile on his face. The quintessential grandfather figure, he resonated an aura of trust and calmness.

Harry wasn't fooled for a second.

Underneath that carefully projected exterior was a razor sharp mind, and in that deceptively frail body was arguably the most powerful wizard of this century. Harry had to only look at Dumbledore to realize that he was someone to respect, and be wary about.

The last member of the panel was the very young Lord Orion Silence Black; he was the same age as Harry and the leader of the most powerful Black clan. Short stylishly cut black hair, and strong extremely handsome features made Harry feel a bit humbled.

His youthful appearance was offset by the piercingly gray eyes that betrayed a cunning intelligence and a calmed assurance rarely found in one so young.

Every one of those eyes was trained on Lord Harry James Potter, they were judging, analyzing, and dismissing him just as quickly. Each one of them had their own respective agendas, and now they were carefully wondering if Harry would be an easily swayed pawn to their plots.

He idly wondered what conclusions they would draw.

The average member of the Wizengamot if he looked at Harry would most likely be unimpressed, a very striking looking young man know doubt with his ruggedly handsome good looks and piercing emerald eyes, he might send a few hearts a flutter and maybe inspire some lustful thoughts but those were a common enough thing.

He didn't hold himself with the grace of a powerful Lord; he seemed a tad out of place and was doing a horrible job of covering it up. No, the newest Lord Potter was not inspiring the fear and awe that usually went along with the name.

Harry couldn't have wished for a better thought.

He calmly strolled up and took his seat at the end of the platform near Orion Black and waited quietly as the mandatory applause ended. Harry smiled and waved as the crowd began to settle down; he turned and listened as Minister Fudge began to speak.

"Honored guests and members of the Wizengamot, welcome to this years beginning session of the British Isle Wizengamot." There was another mandatory five minute clapping period before he continued.

"I would like to extend our warmest greetings to Lord Harry James Potter, and thank him for once again bringing the wisdom of his respective family to these distinguished proceedings." Clapping, Harry was beginning to learn took up a fair amount of time for these formal occasions.

"I will now turn over the floor to the Chief Elder, Lord Tiberius Ogden." An ancient wizard dressed in a simple gray robe, his long white hair was tied into an equally long ponytail and his features were deeply weathered.

"Thank you Minister Fudge, I call upon Gina Wenzel McKinney to present her grievance to the Wizengamot." Harry watched as an average sized woman with long crimson curls and a bland face stepped forward, she was dressed in a conservative brown robe. She seemed nervous to Harry, but was making a decent attempt at not being intimidated.

"My name is Gina McKinney, I'm the director of the British Isle Magical Orphanage association and for those who don't know, our non-profit group runs a string of several orphanages throughout Britain and we are responsible for all magical orphans in the British Isles." Harry was well versed with her compliant; it was basically a budget issue.

"We draw most of our funding from the Ministry itself, and I'm sorry to say that the money allotted by the Ministry this year is simply not enough to cover the expenses for the over thirteen-hundred orphans were take care of." Some outraged hushed tones from the Ministry side of the benches, but generally the room remained quiet.

"Are you accusing the Ministry of Magic of short changing innocent orphans Miss. McKinney?" Fudge tone was neutral, but there was the briefest hint of hostility in his words. Yes Gina McKinney would not be intimidated.

"No Minister, I simply think that perhaps a bureaucratic oversight might have contributed to the Ministries decision, we simply can't afford to provide a decent upbringing for these children on the stipend the Ministry has provided." Muttering in the background began to increase somewhat, and Fudge appeared to be growing more angry.

"So now you are accusing the Ministry of making idiotic mistakes, I can assure you madam that while I sympathize with the plight of innocent orphans, we simply don't have the money to make sure they are allowed to buy every toy their little hearts wish." Harry noticed a few nodded agreements in the background but he continued to keep silent.

"Toy's Minister Fudge is not what the Ministries money is being spent on, why basic medical services for a month will completely take ¼ of our yearly budget!" Her voice jumped a notch, but Fudge seemed to be unmoved by her plight.

"Then perhaps running to St. Mungo's every time a child coughs isn't a good idea, the fact remains is that this year's budget has been decided and it would be quite impossible to change this late in the year." Shoulders gradually slumping, Gina McKinney looked around to other members of the Wizengamot for support; Lucius Malfoy was the first to speak.

"If your association is in such dire need, then perhaps seeking more loans from Gringott's would be in your best interests?" His tone was light and neutral but Harry didn't have a doubt that if such a thing happened, Gringott's would gladly slipped Lucius Malfoy a generous finder's fee.

"Lord Malfoy with all due respect, we already have taken loans from Gringott's for the past four years to cover our growing expenses and we are looking at having a couple of our orphanages foreclosed upon." With a soft shake of his aristocratic head, Lucius Malfoy shrugged his shoulders dramatically.

"Then perhaps you might have to loose a couple of your properties, it might promote some fiscal responsibility on your part." Miss. McKinney handled the insult with surprising grace; she remained defiant in what appeared to becoming a hopeless situation.

None of the other Wizengamot members had anything to say, and Harry decided he might as well step in before he lost his chance.

"To forestall the closing of your orphanages Miss. McKinney, and to properly cover this years budget may I ask how much money you would need?" Surprise ran through the crowd of families as they regarded Harry, Dumbledore in particular was watching Harry with rapt attention.

"Lord Potter the total amount needed would tally up to about 235,000 galleons, but I fail to see how that is pertinent at this point." Harry made a show of concentrating hard, he held the Wizengamot in breathless silence for a few seconds before speaking.

"I think we all can agree that we should be looking out for what's best for the orphans, so I shall personally donate the 235,000 galleons from my families own personal funds and spare the Ministry the expense of having to fix an obvious unintended budget mistake." Silence descended upon the hall for the first time in minutes, Harry had just delivered the first stroke of what he hoped would be a useful delaying action. He had not only just earned himself a fair amount of good PR by willing to bear the burden of helping innocent orphans; he had also just taken a direct shot at the Ministry itself.

Lord Potter the fop was beginning to show his true colors.

"Lord Potter while that is certainly a noble gesture, I wouldn't want you to be mislead by this woman, her association was provided with more then adequate funds and this petition is nothing more then a gesture to try and extract more money for god knows what." Harry shook his head and waved the Minister off.

"This is truly no problem Minister, I know that mistakes happen and I'm more the willing to bear the burden for helping these orphans, seeing as this should satisfy Miss. McKinney's petition I suggest we move onto the next order of businesses?" Unable to find a proper response to that, Fudge simply nodded bleakly and motioned Tiberius Ogden to move on.

New appraising and suspicious looks were sent in Harry's direction, he had deliberately lured them into believing him a fool and now they were unsure of how to judge him at all.

Just as Harry had hoped.

"Ahem, the next order of businesses before the Wizengamot is a vote on the Werewolf Housing and Job restriction act; I shall now turn the floor over to Minister Fudge." Minister Fudge took a moment to look solemnly over the assembled members of the Wizengamot.

"Honored members of the Wizengamot, over the past five months werewolf attacks have been on the rise and the public demands action, so a team of Ministry specialists working with my office have been crafting a law to that will help fully address a growing werewolf threat." Harry was starting to wonder if there was one politician in the entirety of Wizarding Brittan who grasps the idea of "getting to the point".

"So I present this bill, and hope that you shall cast a vote in favor of protecting the wizarding public." Harry said nothing as he was busy mulling over his pre-decided position, he doubted he had enough swing to strike the issue down but perhaps there was a way.

"The floor recognizes Lord Lucius Augustus Malfoy." Lucius didn't seem a bit fazed to find himself under the gazes of everyone in the Wizengamot.

"I would like to applaud Minister Fudge for taking steps to correct a problem that has long plagued the wizarding world, to long have we ignored the threat that werewolves pose to the general public, it's time that we know who is a werewolf and where they live, it's time we stop coddling these people and take action to protect the greater wizarding public." His speech, his tone of voice, was all flawless and many of the Wizengamot were entranced.

"So I would likely to fully endorse this bill, and hope that the wisdom is prevailed among you others to do the same." A loud enthusiastic clapping followed as Malfoy sat down, the perfect arrogant aristocrat.

"The Floor recognizes Lord Tow Min Chang." The short elderly leader of the House of Chang stood up, his gaze quickly quieting any residual clapping.

"Circumstances will force me to abstain from this vote, as I've not had the proper amount of time to fully study the issue and I beg the Wizengamot's forgiveness in this matter." He bowed briefly, and then calmly retook his seat.

"The floor recognizes Lord Orion Silence Black." Harry watched young grey eyed lord of House Black stand smoothly up.

"I must also abstain myself from this vote, I beg the Wizengamot's forgiveness in this matter." He quietly sat down, and waited.

"The floor recognizes Lord Harry James Potter." Harry met each of their stares with a stoic mask and an icy emerald gaze.

"I have a number of questions I'd like to pose to Minister Fudge, and perhaps bring to light some issues I believe haven't been thought of." Anxiousness seemed to spread through the assembled members of the lower families, what other trick was Harry about pull?

"By all means Lord Potter, please state your fears so I that might do my best to ease them." A small dig, Harry hoped that by the time he was done, it would be just another line in the official transcript.

"It states in the clauses of this bill that all werewolves shall be hereby excluded from working in a densely populated muggle areas, I was wondering Minister what industry will be soaking up the jobs that this bill is going to leave vacant?" Fudge simply nodded gravely, this was a question he had obviously been expecting.

"While we admit initially might cause some job loss problems, we fully believe that the economy of wizarding Britain will be able to quickly absorb these… individuals back into the fold relatively quickly." Harry nodded.

"Wouldn't some of these individuals whose job is teacher, healer, or any number of high ranking jobs be reduced to taking jobs in menial labor?" Fudge said nothing for a few seconds before allowing his well worn political smile to resurface.

"Perhaps, but the safety of the wizarding public is what is paramount don't you agree Lord Potter?" Harry smiled faintly.

"While agreeing with the Minister, I would like to remind him that he's answering questions and therefore not asking them." Amused expressions swept through the Wizengamot, Fudge himself said nothing but just kept smiling. His eyes though betrayed this anger.

"Now, I would like to ask if the Ministry is prepared to fight the wars that will inevitability arise if this bill is passed?" Silenced reigned throughout the Wizengamot, Fudge was blinking rapidly and seem to be wondering if he had heard Harry right.

"Would you please tell us Lord Potter, how a war might come if this bill is passed?" Fudge seemed to be thinking that Harry might have just fallen into a hole, but the smoothness of Harry's reply was too coordinated for that.

"Article seven of this bill states that all werewolves in Wizarding Britain would be subject to registering themselves at the Ministry, unfortunately this would directly contradict article fifty-five of the Werewolf Pack Autonomy treaty of 1879, the article in question promises that any clan werewolf will not be subject to mandatory Ministry registration, and it should be noted the clause has a two hundred year old expiration date." The silence was palpable; Harry rather enjoyed watching the Minister disoriented for a few seconds before his finally honed political reflexes kicked in.

"Obviously the Ministry doesn't wish a war with the werewolf clans, nor do we wish to break such a… established treaty, and so I shall be scrapping that part of the bill in question." Harry smiled, he knew that representatives from the more powerful werewolf clans were in the audience, and he had just scored some points with all of them.

"I commend you on so quickly acknowledging the Ministries mistake, now I must ask you about these… statistics you have presented the Wizengamot." Fudge smiled tightly, and urged Harry to continue.

"Don't these numbers only show specific attacks for exclusive parts of the country, and if you look at the total amount of attacks over the past five to ten years, isn't the number in total on the decline?" Fudge took a few seconds to shuffle some papers in his hand, and then was forced to answer the question, less he look more then idiot then he already did.

"I suppose that you could interpret the figures that way, but I still think that the attacks are far too high for us to ignore." Said Fudge with a sudden rush of conviction, the response clapping was limited to only the most starch supporters of the Ministry.

"Aren't we running the risk of increasing these attacks by causing a sudden flood of jobless werewolves?" Fudge seemed unprepared for this question, and shuffled his hands for a few seconds.

"There are no statistics to back up that assumption, and I'm fully confident that our economy will quickly be able to absorb any flood of workers into the market." Harry was surprised by the supporting clapping; he had underestimated just how much support this bill had. He was beginning to doubt that he could muster enough support to completely kill this bill; he might have to settle for gutting it instead.

"Minister frankly I'm more concerned with this then you seem to be, therefore I would like to submit an amendment to this bill, a special exclusion for all werewolves who have held their jobs for more then one year and have no record of violence with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." Fudge said nothing, and soon Tiberius Ogden began to speak.

"An official amendment has been suggested for the Werewolf Housing and Job Restriction act, all in favor?" Harry watched as Dumbledore raised his wand in support, and he was followed by more then ninety-five members of the Wizengamot.

"The amendment has passed, and the bill will become law." It was less then Harry had hoped for, but enough of a blow to the Ministers prestige to satisfy Harry.

"The final bill to be presented to the Wizengamot today is the Magical Abortion Act, the law is brought by Lady Devaro and Madam Bones." Harry felt his own jaw set as he watched a woman dressed in long flowing purple robes step forward, she was in her late thirties, with long black hair tied into a bun, pretty but pale features that were dimmed somewhat by her harsh demeanor and deep navy blue eyes.

She was Lady Devaro, the most fanatical supporter of witch's feminist issues in the entirety of Wizarding Britain, and also one of the most dangerous political figures in the realm today. She was supported by a coalition of miner families, and had extracted promises of support from the Minister for the first recognized abortion law in the wizarding Britain.

"Honored members of the Wizengamot, I come before you to correct a grave social injustice that continues to be perpetrated throughout wizarding Britain, the reproduction rights of witches everywhere are being constantly ignored with the refusal to allow the relatively simple procedure of aborting an unborn fetus." Her tone was fierce, crisp, and sharp, Harry resented her from the word go.

"Wizarding countries throughout the world are poised to pass similar laws, it's time to bring the Wizarding World out of the barbarian age and acknowledge the rights of witches that have long been oppressed, and so I urge you all to pass the bill with due haste and thank you ahead of time for your wisdom." There was fierce clapping in the stands, and Harry let out a sigh. He had spent the most time researching his arguments for this issue, and it was time to see if they would work or not.

"The floor recognizes Lord Lucius Augustus Malfoy." Harry looked on at Malfoy coldly; he expected the ex-deatheater to fully support the bill in exchange for the considerable political capital that Lady Devaro could provide in the future.

"Lady Devaro, I've noticed in this bill a certain lack of respect for the rights of the unborn child's father, would you please clarify as to how much power a father has in such decisions?" Harry was surprised; it almost sound like Malfoy was opposed to the bill.

"The _fetus_ has no rights Lord Malfoy, and neither should any man have the right to infringe upon the reproductive of witches." A distinct sneer lined Malfoy's face.

"Indeed Lady Devaro, I believe I've heard enough." Harry's mind quickly whirled as he analyzed this unexpected possible ally, while the thought of allying himself with Malfoy was distasteful. Harry knew that such alliances would become a common practice and he might as well bite the bullet.

"The floor recognizes Lord Tow Min Chang." Harry had been surprised when he learned of the elder Chang's support of the bill; to get the vote of such a traditionally conservative family must be costing Lady Devaro a pretty penny.

"I would like to commend Lady Devaro for her commendable crusade for witch's rights, and hope that everyone here will lend their support to this historic bill." More fierce clapping for the supporters of the bill, no challenges seemed to be forthcoming. Lady Devaro had the support of a major family, the Ministry, and a number of minor families. It seemed like the bill was poised to pass as easily as everyone thought it would.

Of course Harry hadn't spoken yet.

"The floor shall recognize Lord Harry James Potter." Harry took a deep breath, and stared squarely into the eyes of Lady Devaro herself.

"Lady Devaro do you know the latest surveys from independent sources, and the Ministry itself say about unwanted pregnancies?" Lady quirked an eyebrow, and shook her head.

"They show that unwanted pregnancies among the wizarding population are about 12, this covers all ages in fact." Lady Devaro said nothing, but the hard look at Harry indicated she was beginning to sense more of a protest for this law then she had originally thought possible.

"Being as the numbers are so small, is it really advisable for us to condone a practice that would help erode the high responsibility that our citizens generally seem to show in these matters?" Few words were exchanged in the general seating, no one had expected any type of resistance to the bill and they were eager to see what would come of it.

"Your own numbers Lord Potter indicate that twelve percent of these pregnancies are unwanted and thus there needs to be options open to help our civilians, and I don't condone with your assessment that abortion would promote any less responsibility, but it would offer witches the right that they truly deserve." Harry smiled coldly.

"What about the rights of an unborn child, medical research clearly show that magical growth in an unborn child begins days after conception." Lady Devaro stiffened; her eyes were beginning to darken with anger.

"That so called _research_ is a matter of debate; a fetus is not truly alive and thus is not subject to the same considerations as other beings." Harry felt his own ire begin to rise, but he knew that if he lost his temper, his entire argument would be for naught.

"Apparently we have different ideas of when life does begin, and aren't these so called pending abortion legislations facing stiff opposition in every respective Ministry that it's being introduced in, not to mention the abortion law is currently in America is being reviewed by the American Ministry of Magic's Supreme Court?" Lady Devaro took a few seconds to compose her reply, and in a stiff tone responded.

"I will grant you that there is some opposition to this legislation, but we have high hopes that the wisdom of these foreign Ministries shall be influenced by the bills passing here today." Supportive clapping broke out in the stands, but it seemed weaker somehow, more hesitant.

"I don't recall it being the job of this Wizengamot to set precedents for foreign governments." Lady Devaro's pale face colored lightly.

"Setting an example for the world to see is hardly something to be afraid of M'lord." Harry arched an eyebrow.

"You've had your just to state your opinions Lady Devaro, so kindly refrain from future statements that don't directly relate to questions that you've been asked." She was beginning to shake with anger, but nodded curtly in acknowledgment

"In this bill as Lord Malfoy so keenly pointed out, there is a severe lack of representation for the fathers of the unborn child, would you care to explain?" Harry carefully schooled his face to present a confused look, and this seemed to only infuriate Lady Devaro more.

"The father of the _fetus _is not the one who must bear the burden of carrying a child to term, nor is the subjected to the extreme emotional stress that is inflicted." Harry nodded in agreement.

"Yet it does take two people to create a child, and while acknowledging that there are some instances where pregnancy could result from rape, aren't the current contraceptive methods more then effective to prevent the majority of unwanted pregnancies?" Lady Devaro sniffed with distain.

"Perhaps, but there are instances where a rape victim can't reach a hospital to have a contraceptive spell administered and sometimes parents themselves won't consent." Harry nodded his head in agreement.

"Aren't contraceptive spells taught to all first year students at Hogwarts, quite frankly Lady Devaro I find this bill ethically distasteful and also very useless as the ability to prevent unwanted pregnancies can simply be achieved with a wave of a wand." Lady Devaro was now visibly shaking with anger, and her voice amply betrayed that anger.

"I find it surprising Lord Potter that you would take such position, if your mother was here with us today I'm sure she would gravely disappointed to see her son disgracing her memory this way." She snapped the statement without any real realization of what she was saying, but the fact remained that she did say it. The entire Wizengamot went silent, and Harry's emerald stare became chillier then an artic wind.

"My mother was killed by a useless coward Lady Devaro, so I shall not ever have the pleasure of knowing if what you say is true or not, but you will refrain from mentioning my mother in these proceedings and never again tack her honored name to such a despicable idea." His tone was perfectly controlled, but there was steel in his voice that silenced the entire Wizengamot itself for a number of seconds.

"Lady Devaro, you shall refrain from making anymore such statements in this Wizengamot, and furthermore I would like to extend apologizes to Lord Potter, who I can assure that no disrespect was meant for the memory of his parents." Tiberius Ogden's voice was calm and neutral but even Harry could vaguely detect a hint of anger under his otherwise composed features.

"Now are there any motions in regard to this bill?" Harry's wand went up so fast that it beat anyone else in the entire room.

"I would propose that this bill be thrown out in its entirety, and the entire issue be set aside until next year session of the Wizengamot." Harry's voice was still icy, and his anger was plainly visible to anyone who looked at him.

"Since this bill has the status of being a potential majoring wizarding law, I shall point to the senior members of the Wizengamot and they shall cast their votes before a general vote is taken." Tiberius Ogden pointed his wand at Harry first.

"I vote to throw out the bill, and raise the subject at a later Wizengamot meeting." Tiberius nodded, and pointed next to Tow Min Chang.

"I hereby vote that the bill become law immediately." He pointed to Orion Black next.

"I vote to throw out the bill, and raise the subject at a later Wizengamot meeting." He pointed to Dumbledore next.

"I abstain." It wasn't a surprise to Harry, but it still did anger him, Malfoy was last.

"I vote to throw out the bill, and raise the subject at a later Wizengamot meeting." Tiberius nodded, and then directed his wand to growingly nervous Minister Fudge.

"I vote that the bill become law immediately." Tiberius nodded.

"All those in favor of throwing out the bill?" Harry watched with rapt attention as dozens of wands were instantly raised in the air, the supporters of all three of the major families and a number of small independent families voted in support of throwing out the bill.

It was almost a hundred and twenty votes to throw out the bill, and Harry couldn't help but feel vindicated.

"The majority has voted, and the Magical Abortion Law bill is hereby thrown out." Numerous conversations erupted all over the Wizengamot, reporters were scribbling furiously on their pads and in the center of it all was Lady Devaro herself. A mix of disbelief and anger fighting for dominance on her face.

"THIS IS AN OUTRAGE, A TRAVISTY FOR WITCHES RIGHTS EVERYWHERE AND I SHALL NOT STAND FOR IT!" Her screams echoed throughout the hall, and were immediately drowned out by loud bangs from the wand of Tiberius Ogden.

"The Wizengamot has spoken, and you will control yourself Lady Devaro or I shall have you removed." All traces of calm were gone and his voice cracked like a whip, Lady Devaro remained defiant though.

"I shall not be silenced, how dare this panel of men dare presume to force their misogynistic ideals on witches everywhere." Her further ranting were cut off, as a dozen white robed Auror's appeared out of nowhere and swiftly grabbed her arms, disappearing with a pop just as quickly.

"This meeting will come to order and there will be silence, I declare the Wizengamot officially over and order all members to vacate the grounds immediately." With one loud final bang, the various members of the Wizengamot began to filter out of the chamber, tongues aching to start spreading the news of the spectacle they had just witnessed.

All in all Harry thought things went better then expected.

* * *

Even those most powerful of the lords were quick to exit the chambers, there were rumors to spread, plans to make, and revenge to be plotted. Harry himself was swamped the second he stepped into the hallway, dozens of people were eager to shake his hand, to compliment him, to offer him invitations, gifts, and businesses propositions. 

It took Harry nearly a half-hour to work himself back to the entrance of the Ministry, but by then the events of what had transpired in the Wizengamot had been widely circulated. Reporters surged against the magical barriers, and not even the glares from the highly professional, and highly deadly white robed Auror's was enough to quell the crowd.

Harry simply smiled and waved as he headed down the carpet to his car, it was only when he got to the end of the carpet did he realize that his ride was no where in sight. His hackles were instantly raised, and his eyes scanned the crowd for any sign of danger, Harry didn't knew who would be foolish enough to break the ancient pacts that ensured everyone's protection at Wizengamot meetings, but for what other reason could his car not be here?

The answer was a mid-eighteen century carriage; it was made from some highly polished dark wood and pulled by a dozen magnificent white Arabian stallions. The carriage slowed to a halt directly in front of Harry, and the door slowly slid open to reveal the handsome face of Lord Orion Black.

"It seems that your ride is not available Lord Potter, perhaps I might offer you a ride so that we might get a chance to get better acquainted?" His tone was light, friendly, and completely without the slightest trace of threat or hostility.

Harry was instantly suspicious, but one look at the every growing crowd he knew that his options were running low.

"Do you swear that all members and servants of your house shall abide by the terms of the Neutrality Pact of 1934?" It was the quickest thing Harry could do to ensure that Orion wouldn't simply drag him off and have him killed, once agreed to the pact a was magical contract and thus enforceable on pain of death.

"Why of course, I promise that for the next twenty-four hours I shall observe the rules of the pact." Harry felt a slight tingle down his spine, and he knew that now Orion was bound by his very own magic. Harry reluctantly stepped into the carriage, and sat down in a seat made of the highest quality leather.

"I'm glad that you decided to accept my offer Lord Potter, I feel there are things we must discuss." Harry arched an eyebrow; he knew his invoking of the neutrality pact had been a sign of weakness. It indicated that he didn't trust enough in his own power to remain safe, and thus had to call upon something was only very rarely used.

It was like bleeding near a school of sharks.

"I must say that your performance was really quite impressive today, I dare to say that I've never seen Lady Devaro so… flustered before." Harry took a moment to consider this young lord in front of him, he didn't know much about Orion but he did know that while the same age as Harry, he had to defend his position as leader of the House of Black from many competitors seemingly from the cradle.

It was a sign of his strength.

"I'm quite sure that Lady Devaro shall recover soon enough, she's very crafty that way." Orion nodded in agreement as he poured himself a small glass of summer wine.

"Yes, I doubt we have seen the last of her or this issue on magical abortion either." He took a small sip of his wine, his gaze never straying from Harry for a second. His was completely relaxed, he was in his territory and they both knew it.

"Lord Black shall we cut to the chase, you didn't bring me here to discuss Lady Devaro." A small flash of amusement, and then he nodded.

"Of course Lord Potter, it's recently come to my attention that your family is in possession of some docks in the northern coast of England, and I would like to make an offer to… purchase the docks from you." Harry felt his blood begin to run cold as he realized the true intent of this meeting.

It was a shakedown.

"Perhaps you would like to tell me where you acquired such information?" It was a futile gesture, obviously Orion had some connections at Gringott's and it seems that Harry's information was up for bid.

"Oh here or there, the fact remains is that I think it will be in your best interests to sell this property to me." Harry took a moment to compose his features, his face was expressionless but his emerald gaze was chilly.

"I'm afraid Lord Black that the properties in question, are not for sale." Orion's mouth quirked into a smile, and his eyes flashed with amusement.

"I can see how you might think that, but I really must advise you that it would be in your best interests to simply sell me the property." Harry arched an eyebrow.

"Is that a threat Lord Black?" Amusement vanished from his eyes, and was replaced by a chilly grey stare.

"Consider it sound business advice Lord Potter." Harry let a small smile slip onto his own face.

"Since you are so keen on dispensing advice Lord Black, I shall impart a little of my own, it would be a fools errant to think that my House is coming from a position of weakness, and I would further say that if any "unfortunate" accidents were to occur to said property, the response would be very… unpleasant." Orion let a small smile slip this face.

"I shall consider your advice Lord Potter, and ask where may I drop you off?" The trip itself had been relatively short, and Harry doubted they were very far from the Ministry.

"The entrance to the Ministry will be fine, my car awaits me." Orion nodded politely, and the carriage suddenly lurched ahead.

It was one of the most awkward silences in Harry's life, and when they arrived Harry didn't even bother to say a proper goodbye, a breach of his usual matters but he didn't particularly care at this point. A whole new avenue of problems had just opened, and for once Harry was at a lost for what to do.

As soon as he stepped down though, the carriage was gone in a flash.

* * *

It really wasn't surprising that she was the first thing he would see. 

Standing barely 5'4, she was a dark skinned young woman with long black hair, striking facial features and dark brown eyes. She must have been of mixed blood Harry was sure, and he idly wondered why she was dressed in a muggle woman's business suit in the wizarding world, the suit did little to hide her impressive… figure and if not for the intelligence so plain in those eyes, Harry might have considered her a high priced whore.

… and she was now making a line directly towards Harry.

He was vaguely aware that his car had just pulled up, but Harry had to admit that was intrigued with this woman who was coming over to see him. She finally stopped a short distance from him, and met Harry's gaze squarely, as if daring him to let his eyes drift toward… other areas.

"Lord Potter I presume, my name is Lana Silverstone and I would be grateful for a few moments of your time." Harry contemplated her a second, before speaking.

"My schedule is rather tight at the moment, but if you would join me for a short ride then I might have some time to spare." Lana regarded Harry skeptically for a second before nodding swiftly and moving ahead inside the limousine, followed closely by Harry. They sat on opposite ends of the back seat, and each seemed to spend a few seconds gathering their faculties.

"I've come Lord Potter, to offer my services to your House." Harry arched an eyebrow, and casually pulled a can of Coke out of the mini-refrigerator.

"What… services may those be Miss. Silverstone." Her gaze became chilly for a second, and Harry wondered if he might have offended her.

"It seems to me that you are in need of a solicitor Lord Potter, and I would like the job." Harry blinked, this was mighty convenient.

"Indeed, and what about my solicitor at Gringott's?" She waved her hand dismissively.

"I think it's safe to say that you've learned that any representation provided by Gringott's is actively doing your family enormous harm." Harry knew this was true, he just wondered how this woman knew it.

"I'm not a believer in coincidence Miss. Silverstone, and I find the fact you suddenly popping up to offer your services at such a… critical time for me just a little suspect." Confusion for the first time flashed across her face.

"What exactly do you mean Lord Potter?" Harry said nothing, her sudden appearance after only minutes when he had just learned that Gringott's had furthered compromised his family was just too… planned for his liking.

"While I appreciate the offer Miss. Silverstone, I think I shall drop you off at the next available corner." For the first time Harry noticed her cool demeanor cracked a bit, and she looked to be a pit panicked.

"Lord Potter I can honestly tell you that while some circumstances may seem… convenient for you, I've been planning to see you for several weeks now and any coincidences are simply what they appear to be, coincidences." Maybe it was the genuine panic in her eyes, or the soft pleading in her voice but Harry took a second to reconsider his position.

"Even if what you say is true, what qualities would make you a good solicitor to me, and how do I know that any proof you provide is not simply a fake?" Seemingly spurred by his possible change of heart, she quickly produced a folder and handed it over.

"Inside you'll find degrees from Cambridge, Oxford, and Harvard, I'm sure if you called each college that they could confirm my credentials." Harry quickly thumbed through the various diplomas; it was becoming evident that either she was a very big fraud or one of the most brilliant people Harry had ever met.

"This still doesn't answer why I would risk signing an untested independent solicitor, when there are far more experienced firms available at the touch of a button." A hard determined look formed on her features, and her voice was almost downright fierce.

"Because I'm an independent solicitor I don't have pre-existing loyalties to any other clients, because I'd be willing to serve you exclusively, and because I'm damn good." She radiated confidence, but Harry needed more then assured bravado.

"Would you be willing to pledge a magical contract on your very blood to serve my house until your dying day?" He didn't truly intend for her to take him seriously, but she firmly nodded anyway to his surprise.

"I've always known that if I was to serve a high family that I would be required to take such an oath." This caused Harry to pause, if she really was a plant by some other family to help bring him down it didn't make any sense she consent to a bonding ritual in blood. Bonding with ones blood was the strongest known magical pact that could be pledged, and failure to live up to the promise invoked would cause instant death.

_So if she was a plant, why risk death?_

"You'd be willing to take the blood oath?" While she seemed a bit scared, the determined look in here eyes gave Harry all the answers he needed.

"Extend your hand." Her delicate hand was instantly raised into the air, and Harry took it into his own. Her skin was surprisingly soft, but she didn't wince once as he brought his wand across her palm opening up a cut the length of her hand.

"Do you swear to serve the Lord of the House of Potter till your death, to protect him in all ways and to never take an action that would bring harm to the family in any way?" Throat to dry, she simply nodded.

"Then by my birthright as the Lord of House Potter, I bind you to your promise through the very essence that runs through your body, and vow pain of death if you shall ever betray the words you have spoken this day." Warmth spread throughout the tips of Harry's fingers, and the wound on her palm quickly mended itself.

"Very well then, you are now my solicitor and bonded by blood to serve my family until your death," Lana nodded, and then smiled a bit.

"It's my honor to serve." Harry smiled in response.

"I've got some very urgent orders for you, and I'm rather tired so I shall make this quick." Out of now where she pulled a pen, and a notepad so fast that Harry couldn't help but admire her speed.

"I want you to run a full audit of my family's entire financial history for the past twenty-years, I want you to arrange security evaluations on all my families' properties, and businesses interests in Britain, and I want you to get into contact with a security company to find out what security packages and personal they can offer me." Lana wrote furiously on the pad of paper, and Harry felt his head reluctantly lean back as the tiredness of the day's activities were beginning to creep up on him.

"What type of security personal will you be looking for?" Even while his mind was beginning to shut down, Harry had a profile specifically picked out.

"Must be a witch or wizard with prior military or law enforcement experience, and they must be willing to commit blood oaths as you did to my house." He heard her furious scratching, and inwardly wished she'd hurry up.

"Those types of qualifications could be… hard to come by." Harry simply shrugged.

"It's what I want, I don't want some part time security hack or mercenary, either they are loyal to me or I don't hire them." A little more scratching and then one more questioning look sent his way.

"When do you want this all done?" Harry cracked on eye to regard her for a second before shutting it again.

"I want the audit, the evaluations, and recommendations done in exactly one week of today and I want the recruitment process to continue as ever long possible till I'm satisfied." He could feel her apprehension even with his eyes closed.

'That could be… expensive." Harry waved his hand.

"Till hell with the cost, just do what you have to and remember that security is paramount." Some more scratching and then silence.

"I shall drop you of at the next corner, and in exactly one week I will send a car to meet you at the same spot, if you can pull this off then I promise the job is permanently yours." With that the car slowly rolled to a stop, and she exited without a word.

Harry failed to notice, as he had already fallen asleep.

* * *

That week before Harry went to Hogwarts was probably the most nerve wracking one he had for some time, he was waiting for Lana's report with great eagerness but unfortunately his patience's were getting thinner everyday. He knew that he had given her an enormous amount of work to do, but he couldn't help still resent that it took so long to do. 

He used training to keep himself occupied, and spent some time studying the docks in the north that Orion Black had been so interested in "acquiring". They were indeed a rather major source of income for him legally, and the healthy smuggling trade that also went on there was adding a constant stream of untraceable money to his accounts.

All in all it wasn't really hard to see why Orion wanted the docks.

What did worry Harry was that Orion was comfortable enough to so brazenly threaten Harry, there was something desperately wrong and the closer the day came for his meeting with Lana, the more his fears began to increase. This of course was why he was sitting at his dinner room table so bloody annoyed.

The car ride couldn't have taken that long?

Even as he finished the thought he saw the door open, and watched as Lana Silverstone strolled in dressed in a muggle business suit and looking stunning as the first time he had seen her. For someone who had to walk up a very long trail, she looked surprising clean.

"Please take a seat Miss. Silverstone, and give me your full report." While definitely very abrupt and very rude, Lana seemed to sense Harry's need for information and sat down quickly.

"I'm sorry to report Lord Potter that your suspicions haven been proven true, your families finances are a matter of grave concern." Harry closed his eyes for a few seconds, and then reopened them without a word.

"It seems that it has been almost twenty-two years since any significant changes were made to your families investments, thus for a very long time your family has been pumping money into dozens of otherwise useless investments and this has been costing your family very deeply." Harry said nothing, but motioned for her to continue.

"It also appears that a Gringott's solicitor by the name of Raghock has been skimming money from your family's accounts for at least fifteen years, I estimate that he has gotten away with almost 1.5 million galleons." Harry felt a cold seething anger begin to spread through his system, but he motioned for her to continue.

"It also appears that Gringott's has been passing information about your families weakened condition around, and it's possible that every major lord knows of this weakness." This of course was beginning to explain Orion's motivations, and why he felt so confident on shaking Harry down.

"In total Lord Potter, your family has gone from a net worth of 2.4 billion galleons twenty years ago, to about seven hundred fifty million galleons today." Harry couldn't help but feel a bit numb, what exactly has dad been doing for so many years?

"This makes your family the most financially weakest out of the top five family's in Britain." Harry nodded, and motioned for her to continue.

"Two independent companies conducted audits of the security of your businesses as ordered, the results clearly show that security in every one of your families businesses is very vulnerable to attack and hasn't been addressed in a little over twenty-years." Harry took a moment to analyze this new problem.

"So you're telling me that any family with a decent enough mercenary force could destroy all of my businesses in Britain?" Lana simply nodded.

"Do you have anything to report on the guard search?" She nodded.

"So far I've managed to come up with about six applicants who might fit the profile you described, I intend to meet these individuals and see if they will qualify." More applicants then he expected, he nodded.

"Very good, and now what are your recommendations for stopping the drainage of my family's money?" Lana quickly dug out a piece of paper and slit it over to Harry.

"This will order the termination all of your investments that have been consistently loosing money for five years; this will stop the drainage of your accounts and leave you with two million a month in direct profits." Harry took her offered pen and signed off on the document.

"I also have two proposals here for updating the security of your businesses, one is from Dempinshire and Associates, and one is from the Lockwood Mede Corporation." Harry took each proposal and carefully began to scan them.

Dempinshire and Associates advised a complete revitalization of all the wards on all of his assets, offered to contract security directly from their security division. Their proposed security people would include Ex- Aurors, trained trolls, vampires, and other number of magical creatures. Each of these security people would of course still be directly employed be Dempinshire and Associates and such answerable only to them.

Harry was not very thrilled with that proposal.

Lockwood Mede proposed a complete array of new wards for all his businesses, they offered to install the latest in muggle security technology that included but not limited to a state of the art camera system, thermal imaging, and a plethora of other detection systems. The final piece of their offer was a proposal to assist Harry in finding security people who would be willing to pledge their direct allegiance to his House and thus only be answerable to him. All security people subject to Harry's pre-approval.

Harry definitely preferred this offer.

"Sign a contract with Lockwood Mede, I'm aware that it will be more expensive but I'm afraid that time is of the essence." Lara nodded.

"One final thing, to ensure that I can keep in secure contact with you at Hogwarts, I've arranged for a special item to be made." She reached into her bag, and pulled a slim simple looking laptop.

"I've had this laptop specifically created to work at Hogwarts, all you can do on it is to simply e-mail but it will allow us to remain in constant contact with each other." Harry took the laptop, and had to admit of the usefulness such an item could provide.

"I will say that I'm amazed with your performance Miss. Silverstone, and I wish for you to continue being my solicitor from now on." A brief smile lit on her face but it vanished just as quickly.

"Thank you very much Lord Potter, I must be off if I'm going to get these contracts off." Harry nodded and bid her goodbye.

It was finally time for him to begin his own journey, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy,

_**Next Chapter: Harry goes to Hogwarts!**_

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_Post Edit: Some minor grammar fixes courtesy of a couple helpful reviewers, I would also like to take this quick note to address a statement a reviewer had, I would have assumed Harry asking what credentials she possessed, and the reasons why she would make a good solicitor as enough evidence that he was considering, and as for the desperate comment. She's still a very young inexperienced woman, and does desperately require this job for reasons that will come to light soon enough. As for Lady Devaro seeming... obsessed, all I can say is that she is a passionate woman who went into the meeting under the assumption the bill would pass with flying colors. Anyone might get flustered if they had their plans suddenly derailed, any who thanks for your reviews._


	7. First Class Part I

**_A/N Recent time constraints have forced me to only post the first half of this chapter, I shall hopefully be posting the second part early next week, and ask your forgiveness for short changing my readers like this. I've done my best to edit for grammar and such but I'm really in need of a beta and I've had some many cups of coffee trying to finish this story that I admit to being a bit... rundown while writing this authors note and editing. I've also noticed a lot of recent comments about Harry's maturity, and I think if people really start looking hard they will begin to see that Harry in some respects is still a little boy. Now I encourage you all to read carefully and hopefully note the minor details which will make up very important parts of this story. I shall be gone most of this weekend, and I promise to further editing Sunday night for increased clarity. So I thank you for baring with me, and the next additions of Salazar's Snake and the second part of this chapter shall be up early next week, now enjoy._**

**Chapter Seven**

**First Classes**

**Part One**

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* * *

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Packing was a rather somber experience for Harry, he had spent only a short couple of months in the Scottish Highlands but they were some of the most peaceful times of his entire life. He knew that wherever he went, this cottage was always going to hold a special place in his memories.

Binky also seemed to grow sadder as the hours ticked down, Harry had done his best to convince her to write a letter on occasion but she became so upset at the thought that Harry decided to let it be. She had managed the cottage her entire life, so it wouldn't be that hard for her to get back into such a lifestyle.

Or Harry hoped.

Much to his chagrin he had made an emergency trip to Diagon Alley to purchase a set of dueling robes and other assorted things he needed for Hogwarts earlier that day. Now his trunk was firmly packed, included was a set of weapons he intended to use for his private practice, some of his own specialized books, and the laptop that Lara had been so kind to have made for him.

He had to cast a couple of simple charms that would expand the trunk to accommodate his needs, but his main concern for it was security. A lot of his family's papers, and some other items were located in that trunk and Harry didn't want to run the risk of someone gaining access to them.

Knowing that his knowledge of magic was still very limited, Harry had decided to use some obscure runes from the early Egyptian era to inscribe some basic runic spells. While the protections were very limited, someone still have to figure out what each individual rune itself meant before they could break the spell.

It was the best Harry could do for now, and he wasn't willing to risk having an outside professional come in and instill more specialized security. Because Gringott's seemed to be violating its vaunted confidentiality clauses at every turn, Harry's paranoia level had jumped by leaps and bounds.

Yet Harry was stuck with the basic security spells that only he himself could cast, but with one final look at the clock he decided it was now or never. With his wand strapped to in his wand holster, Harry headed into the living room where Binky was waiting apprehensively.

She was going to teleport him directly to the outskirts of town, where a convoy would be waiting to escort Harry to King's Cross. Harry was apprehensive about independent contractors handling his security, but Lana had ensured him of their loyalty.

His families own personal security forces were rather non-existent, and Lana was still working to find suitable applicants to meet his rigorous criteria. They had exchanged some e-mails about the criteria for hiring other types of security, trolls, goblin mercenaries, etc.

Harry was wiling to pay handsomely, but he insisted that all of them take blood oaths for indefinite service to his House; he knew that it only made Lana's job that much harder, but Harry couldn't spend his time worrying about the loyalty of those underneath him.

He was brought back from his musings by Binky's fidgety form; she couldn't stand still and seemed almost on the edge of tears. Harry was a little touched by this, but he knew that any obvious displays of affection would only embarrass and confuse her.

"Are we ready to go Binky?" She stared at him teary eyed for a few seconds before nodding, Harry took her hand and then they were gone. The feeling only lasted a little under a half a second, it was like there was a great pressure on his body and then it was suddenly lifted.

The convoy itself was a set of three dark SUV's, there were at least a dozen fit looking in men dressed in Armani suits who were spread around the area. When Harry appeared their reactions were surprisingly calm, a few muttered words into a microphone and the largest of men approached Harry.

"Lord Potter, per the contract signed by one Lara Silverstone, we shall escort you to King's Cross station and ensure that no harm comes to you." Harry nodded stiffly, he had his wand on his forearm and a dagger hidden where he could reach it but he had no delusions. These men were not arrogant egotistical assassins, these were stone cold professionals with prior military history, all ex-special forces and all with over five years experience.

Lana would take nothing less for Harry's protection.

"Then let us be on our way." Harry gave Binky one last reassuring smile, and followed the large man into the middle SUV, the convey was quickly underway and Harry spent the next couple of minutes examining the man who had entered into the SUV with him.

"Do you consider us a threat Lord Potter?" The man's tone was even, and his eyes never left the window he was looking out of.

"I consider people who are in charge of my security but haven't sworn allegiance to my house as a threat yes." Something that might have been a smile appeared on the man's lips, but only for a second.

"How long do you think you'd survive if we did try to kill you?" Harry tensed at the question; his voice became hard but certain as he regarded the smartly dressed guard.

"I suppose that I would die, but I know for a fact so would you." Another flash of amusement, and then the ride was silent.

* * *

The ride was free of conversation after that point, Harry was constantly on edge and he had no doubt that this amused the guard to no end. When they pulled into King's Cross station, Harry was escorted to the dividing barrier between platforms 9 and 10. 

"This is where I shall leave you Lord Potter, the old pacts that protect Hogwarts extend to its train and such you shall be as safe as possible." Harry nodded a muted thanks, he turned to examine the divider in question and experimentally tried to poke it.

His hand of course vanished.

He yanked it back with surprising speed, and took a couple of shaky deep breathes. Mustering his courage, Harry stepped through the barrier and emerged on the other side his trunk floating beside him. Scarlet steam was being pumped furiously into the sky, the platform itself was packed with different students all dressed in a variety of clothes.

Some were dressed in the dark robes for school, some were dressed in muggle clothing attire and a few were dressed in robes of a finer material. What really stuck Harry as odd was the fact that everyone looked like a teenager, it was eerie to think that some of the people here were eleven, twelve, or thirteen and yet they all looked to be fully matured teenagers.

Suffice to say this magical puberty thing would require some time to get used to, as he watched the different students interact with their respective families Harry couldn't help but feel a pang of loss. With a sad sigh, he strolled towards the entrance to the train, his trunk floating along beside him.

Stepping cautiously through the varying cats, owls, and other assorted animals, Harry stepped onto the train and hauled his trunk up with him. Determined to find a place to sit, Harry headed for the last compartment and hoped that it would be empty.

Luck decided to shine on Harry at this particular moment, the last compartment was indeed empty and Harry gratefully put his trunk down and slipped into a seat. He wondered what he should do for the next hour or so during the train ride, but his musings were interrupted by the door being sharply opened.

"Have you seen a toad?" She was a little over five-six with shoulder length brown hair tied in a French ponytail, a small nose and mouth, her eyes were a chocolate shade of brown and they burned with a fierce intelligence. She was dressed in a conservative black school robe that prevented Harry from getting an accurate read on her more feminine features.

Not really stunning in the conservative sense, but someone who Harry might take a second look at.

"No, I can't say that I've seen a toad." The girl frowned, her eyes drifted over Harry's features before settling on his scar. A surprised expression lit her face, and she began speaking very rapidly.

"Your Harry Potter, you know I've read all about you in some of the books I bought and of course I know all about your story, I mean who doesn't?" Harry frowned for a second, he had a nauseated feeling that scar staring was going to become a bit of an annoyance before to long.

'Yes I'm Harry Potter and no I didn't know that I was written about and as to how many people might know my "story", I would rather not speculate considering I lost my parents that night." The girl had the good sense to look embarrassed, and she shuffled her feet a bit nervously.

"I'm sorry, my names Hermione Granger it's nice to meet you." Harry nodded politely, he was quite unsure of what to make of the girl; he decided to reserve judgment until he learned a little more about her.

"Err... I promised Neville I'd help find his toad, but it was really nice to meet you Harry." With a shy smile, she turned around and exited the cart at high speed.

"Well that went well." Harry muttered to himself, he started digging around his bag for his book on Attic Greek when the door opened again. A tall thing gangly guy with large hands, feet, and flaming red hair strolled into the compartment, his light blue eyes landing directly on Harry.

"You're Harry Potter aren't you?" Harry felt a little more annoyance with this guy then he did with Hermione, probably due to the fact she was a lot easier on the eyes and had an aura of intelligence that Harry could appreciate.

"Yes, I'm Harry Potter and who are you?" The red head blinked in surprise.

"Oh, I'm Ron Weasely." Harry nodded, and contemplated the value of a damn fine locking charm.

"Hey is it true that You-Know-Who's face is full of snake scales?" Harry blinked; it took him a moment to contemplate the sheer bluntness, stupidity, and audacity of the statement. He felt a slow burning anger begin to creep into his system, were people really this dumb?

"I was a baby when Voldemort attacked my family, do you honestly think I want to remember the night my parents were slaughtered?" His tone was tight, but there was a definite edge of hostility in it. Ron suddenly looked uneasy, he ran a hand through his flaming hair and couldn't quite meet Harry's eye.

"You said his name; I mean… normally people don't use it." Harry arched an eyebrow, now what was the deal with this?

"People are afraid to mutter the name of a wizard that's been dead for eleven years?" Ron shrugged his shoulders and nodded stupidly.

"I guess… I mean a lot of people are still a little scared of him." Harry rolled his eyes, and some how he wasn't even surprised.

"I guess I can imagine that residual traces of trauma would have stunted a generation, but I find this cost transference of irrational fear very laughable." Harry didn't have the slightest idea what he had just said, he had just rattled off the biggest words he could think of and hoped that it would stun this nitwit enough to make him leave.

Ron's eyes became slightly glazed, and Harry wondered if he had just short circuited the guy's brain.

"Err… yeah I guess I can see that, it was nice to meet you… umm… I think my brothers are looking for me." With a hasty retreat Ron fled the compartment, Harry idly who the next interloper would be.

He was answered a few minutes later by the door casually sliding open, Orion Black stood there dressed in a surprisingly simple black robe. He was carrying a trunk, and unceremoniously took a seat to the direct opposite of Harry. The awkward silence that occurred afterward lasted several minutes.

"So how many of them have brought up Voldemort?" Harry arched an eyebrow.

"What makes you think that anyone would be that stupid?" Orion gave Harry a knowing look.

"Ok only two so far, but I really think the girl regretted it." Orion grinned, and Harry couldn't but be a little amused himself.

"Well you are a symbol in the wizarding world, and I suspect that scar gazing will be a rather popular event at Hogwarts." Harry scowled at the thought, but that didn't make it any less true.

"That's just the sort of attention I want to attract, I swear the next person to ask me what Voldemort looks like is going to be hexed." Orion arched an eyebrow in curiosity, but had the tact not to say anything.

"Can you honestly blame people for being curious as to the appearance of the most feared wizard in a century?" Harry sighed a little.

"On a certain level I can appreciate it, but I did loose my parents that night so I don't feel real keen on talking about it." Orion looked surprisingly sympathetic.

"Being an orphan is a hard thing to deal with." His voice held a certain bitterness that only experience could produce, and Harry found himself sympathetic to the young Lord of the Blacks.

"While I'm sure this line of questioning is fascinating, why exactly are you in my cart?" Orion meet Harry's sudden suspicious gaze unflinchingly.

"I had hoped this cart would be empty, but seeing as it wasn't I figured you would be an interesting person to chat with." Harry said nothing, did the lords of opposing houses chat?

"Technically you're my enemy you know, shouldn't we be plotting nefariously against each other and so on?" Orion chuckled without warning and shrugged.

"On some level I'm still your enemy, but it's rather hard for me to plot directly against you seeing as the neutrality laws of Hogwarts are so damned strict." Harry found this a surprisingly logical statement, but he by no means trusted Orion.

"Indirectly or directly is the same to me, but I can see your point a bit." Another silence ensured as each one of the young men tried to reconcile themselves to a course of action, Harry also noted though that the train had began to slowly lurch signaling it's departure.

"I've done some research on the neutrality laws, but do you know if it's just something they say or do they actively enforce it?" Orion looked thoughtfully at Harry before answering.

"The laws are strictly enforced, no inter family rivalry is allowed to be played out at Hogwarts and the penalty for violating those laws is immediate expulsion, Dumbledore does like his neutrality." Harry grinned sarcastically.

"Yes I'm sure he has his own agenda to play out." Orion returned his smile.

"Well there is that to, but I expect that eventually there is going to be some form of conflict between Dumbledore and the Ministry." Harry arched an eyebrow coolly.

"On what basis do you think that?" Orion took a second to consider his words; he didn't want to risk giving Harry to much information.

"Minister Fudge is an idealist, he would nothing better then to increase the Ministries powers and gaining more control over what happens at Hogwarts would be a good step toward that." Harry's brow furrowed as he pondered this new information.

"The Ministry signed binding magical agreements long ago to not interfere at Hogwarts, how would they plan to bypass those old pacts?" Orion shrugged.

"Those magical pacts are limited by their wording, and there are always indirect methods to influence something." Harry considered this for a second, just how was the Ministry trying to manipulate Hogwarts and were the more powerful families doing the same thing?

"Perhaps but Dumbledore is a crafty bastard, and I seriously doubt that Fudge has enough intelligence to seriously harm him." Orion shrugged, and then another awkward silence ensured.

It seemed like every point of conversation had to be censored, the constant thought that the guy in front of him was actively trying to subvert his family was ever present in Harry's mind.

"So what house do you think you'll be put in?" Orion looked distressed for a second.

"My family has a rather extensive history in Slytherin, but I rather hope to avoid that particular snake pit." Harry pondered this, did this mean that Orion didn't lean as far toward Lucius Malfoy as Harry thought?

"What about you?" Harry shrugged.

"My family has a long tradition in Gryffindor, but I'd like to think I'm placed where I should be and not because of my heritage." Orion nodded in agreement.

"Yeah I guess all we can do is wait." Harry nodded but a chilling thought entered his mind.

"There isn't a chance someone could pressure whoever decides where we get placed is there?" Orion snorted with amusement and his eyes sparkled with mirth.

"You are rather paranoid you know that, but no I can assure you that the thing which puts us in our houses is entirely immune to bribery, manipulation, or trickery of any sort." Harry was annoyed at Orion's obvious amusement, but his retorted ended as the door suddenly slid open.

In strolled the young handsome Draco Malfoy with his old aristocratic good looks dressed in a dark robe of obviously expensive material. He was flanked by two hulking guys who stood around 6'2 with huge long thick arms, and the body shape of a gorilla.

Harry might have been intimated if one look at their eyes didn't reveal a severe lack of… anything.

"Orion, it's been awhile since I've seen you." Malfoy's tone was casual, but with just a hint of the inborn arrogance Harry suspected ran in the family. Orion had stiffened upon the young Malfoy's entrance, and his face didn't reveal a hint of his inner thoughts.

"Hello Draco, yes I believe it was that meeting Switzerland last time I saw you." Draco nodded lazily, and his gaze turned to regard a stoic Harry.

"I'm rather surprised at the company you keep Orion." Harry's icily regarded Malfoy with a barely thin veil of contempt.

"Is there something that I can help you with Malfoy?" A perfectly raised eyebrow and a sneer was his response.

"That's Lord Malfoy to the likes of you Potter." Harry's eyes flashed with amusement and he shook his head.

"Your presumption of lordship is frankly laughable; you're only a scion of your family so feel free to know your place." Malfoy's pale skin flushed a bit with anger, and his tone was low and icy.

"Your family could come to regret such words Potter; you better learn proper respect for your betters." Harry's expression was hard and unyielding.

"Is the Malfoy family making a verbal threat against my family, in violation of its pledge of neutrality to those under the protection of Hogwarts?" Malfoy said nothing before responding in the same icy tone.

"Of course not, I was merely advising you on the proper way to speak with your betters." Harry smiled.

"When I see my betters then I shall use that advice, until then I suggest you stop clogging the compartment." Malfoy's grey eyes flashed with anger, but his hands stayed firmly at his side.

"I find it surprising a Black and a Potter would mingle so freely considering it was a Black that cost your parents there lives." Harry whipped his head sharply towards Orion before turning back to an obviously amused Malfoy.

"Oh you didn't know that it was Sirius Black himself who betrayed your family to the Dark Lord?" Harry felt his blood begin to boil, but he didn't have a chance to respond before Orion's slow angry voice cut in.

"I believe he knows now Malfoy, so I suggest you piss off before the repercussions of this meeting become unpleasant for your… relatives." Malfoy sneered at Orion, and then strolled out of the carriage with an arrogant swagger. Another tense silenced lasted until Harry spoke.

"Is what that spoiled little ponce said true?" His expression was not necessarily angry, but there was a tightness around him that eluded a change could happen at any second. Orion spoke in a low quiet tone almost defiantly meeting Harry's gaze.

"My uncle and your father were friends at Hogwarts; it's that that during the war my uncle told Voldemort where your parents were hiding." Harry said nothing for a few moments.

"Where is your uncle now?' Orion smiled sadly.

"He was put in Azkaban for killing the guy who tracked him down, Peter Pettigrew I think his name was, as far as I know he was a friend of your fathers to." Harry nodded in acceptance, if Azkaban was half the hellhole that the books described it as; he was more then willing to let that traitorous bastard Black rot there.

"How is Sirius your uncle?" Orion's mouth set in a hard line, and he seemed to consider not answering the question at all.

"My father was Regulus Black; he was another deatheater that was killed in service to Voldemort." Harry arched an eyebrow with disgust.

"Your family doesn't seem to be the most capable of Voldemorts followers do they?" It was a vicious swipe, and Harry regretted it almost instantly, Orion stood preparing to leave but his look remained defiant.

"The Blacks don't bow to anyone, and that includes Voldemort." He snarled, Harry made a motion for him to stop and Orion reluctantly waited.

"That was a low blow and I'm sorry, I just get a little… testy in regards to my parents murder." Orion accepted the apology with a nod and sat back down.

"So you plan on trying out for the Quidditch team?" Harry cursed; he knew he should have read that book about Wizarding sports.

"I can't say I know exactly what… Quidditch is." Orion chuckled softly to himself.

"Are you telling me that the almighty Lord of the House of Potter doesn't know what Quidditch is?" Harry, who was never comfortable with being ignorant on any subject glared at Orion.

"No you smart arse, I'm saying I don't have time to learn about every recreational sport of the wizarding world." Chuckling a bit more at Harry's obvious discomfort, Orion began to explain the rules.

"Quidditch is played on a long oval pitch about five-hundred feet wide, and about a hundred-eighty feet long, ok?" Harry nodded and motioned for him to continue.

"There are seven people per team, three chasers, two beaters, one keeper, and a seeker." Harry nodded in understanding and Orion continued.

"Now there are also three different balls, one is called a Quaffle which is a decent sized red ball handled by the chasers who try to throw it into one of three of their opponents goal posts." More nodding on Harry's part.

"There are two bludgers which are two enchanted heavy metal balls whose soul job is to fly around the pitch trying to knock players off their brooms." Harry did his best not to smirk, what a cliché the brooms were.

"Now beaters are two people with bats who ride around the pitch trying to knock the bludgers at their opponents, or the other team's keeper." Harry started appreciating just how dangerous this sport really was.

"Now the keeper's job is to guard the goal posts against the other team's chasers, and the final ball is something called the Golden Snitch." Harry arched an eyebrow.

"It's a wicked fast small gold ball that's almost impossible to see, and worth a hundred-fifty points to the seeker who catches it, the game ends when it's caught." Harry blinked, was that it?

"Now the seekers job is two fold, there the only ones allowed to catch the snitch but they are also the only ones allowed to due magic on the field." Harry frowned; it seemed an easy way to cheat.

"The seeker though is limited to three certain spells, a charm that forces an opponent of their broom, a shield spell, and a deceleration hex for when they fall of their brooms." Harry arched an eyebrow in amazement, this game sounded like a good way to end up in a hospital and he said so to Orion.

"You could be right, injuries are pretty routine but it's the Wizarding Worlds favorite pastime." Harry considered this for a moment; maybe it might be interesting to learn more about this game.

"How old do you have to be before you can play?" Orion smiled, and Harry wondered if his thoughts were being read.

"Technically I guess a first year is allowed to try out for the house team, but it's pretty rare that one is actually allowed to play." Harry wasn't surprised nor intimated, having the odds against him seem to becoming a way of life in the wizarding world for Harry.

"So will you be trying out for the Quidditch team?" Orion shrugged, and smiled noncommittally.

"Perhaps." Harry rolled his eyes.

"I think were going to be getting to Hogwarts soon, do you mind stepping out so I could change?" Orion looked outside and nodded in agreement.

"Your right we will be arriving soon, I suppose I need to get changed or I might deprive all those lucky ladies of Hogwarts a chance to see their future." Harry snorted with amusement, and Orion mock glared at him.

"I shall have you know that many a woman have been honored to grace my bed." Harry gave Orion a hard look before rolling his eyes.

"You're a damn liar; you're as much a virgin as I am." Suddenly looking a little less confident, Orion shrugged.

"What do you expect, I'm only eleven?" Harry grinned, and Orion returned it with something like genuine warmth.

When Orion left, Harry cast the strongest locking charm he knew and began stripping down out of his clothes. He couldn't help but be surprised at the person who he found himself liking. It seemed that when they both weren't playing the respective Lord's of their families, that they might genuinely like each other.

There in lies the problem.

He and Orion would always been playing the role of Lords, it wasn't something that they could simply shut off simply because they were at Hogwarts. Was it possible that they could be friends with such things hanging over their head? Harry didn't know, and for right now he really didn't care.

Dressed in a dark robe of moderately expensive material, he finished up styling his hair and then waited for Orion's inevitable return. He was rewarded in a couple of minutes by a soft knock on the door, and then door suddenly sliding open with Orion grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"What a quaint little locking charm, are you done making yourself pretty?" Harry frowned, he was definitely going to have to research some security spells. Orion was dressed in a tasteful robe of a dark shiny material, his hair was expertly styled back and Harry started to feel a little underdressed.

Dark robes were mighty popular it seemed.

"This insult coming from the guy with the hair gel splattered on the front of his robe." Orion's eyes went wide and he began searching his robes franticly, Harry's laughter signaled a joke and Orion looked a little sheepish.

"Let's go, will be arriving soon." With that Harry followed his new found companion to the front of the train, chuckling all the way there.

* * *

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" Boomed the voice of the largest man Harry had ever seen, His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair. 

"Bloody hell that's a large man." Orion nodded in agreement, and they strolled over stepping inside one of the rowboats that were lined up on the shore of a dark lake. Harry waved once to Hermione, and a little more reluctantly to Ron and turned to find Orion staring at him in amusement.

"Friends of yours?" Harry chose not to dignify that with a response, and instead tried to study the other people of his year. It was impossible to distinguish more then just general shapes in the darkness, and Harry soon found himself leaning over for a closer examination of the lake.

"I'd be careful if I were you, there are things in that water who never signed any type of agreement with Hogwarts." Orion's voice sounded eerie in the darkness, but Harry ignored him anyway.

"Does that extend to the Blacks as well?" Harry thought he sensed Orion smugly grinning but he couldn't be sure.

"Of course not, do you honestly think a scion or lord of the Black family would not see to such details?" Harry shrugged.

"I guess I should have known the Blacks would need special pacts to protect them, but I for one don't need any special protections, the strength of my House protects me." Orion snorted in sarcastic amusement, and Harry thought he could make out the giant man approaching the boats.

"Y'all better be in here or you'll get left, right FORWARD." The man bellowed, and the boats slowly began crossing the lake. Soon the boats came out from behind a wood and Harry was stunned speechless, Hogwarts was a sprawling castle with many towers spearing out into the night, the castle itself projected a majesty all it's own and hummed with the silent power of magic centuries old but still as powerful as the day it was weaved into the very stone's that made up the castle.

Harry could count one hand the attempts that had been made to lay siege to the castle, where rogue armies who signed no ancient pact of neutrality had tried to storm there way into its walls. None of them had ever reached the walls of course; the founders had designed this school as a save haven for learning and had instilled enough power in its defenses to enforce that wish even two-thousand years after its creation.

It was a humbling site, and perhaps that was partly the reason the first years crossed the lake so that they may get such a view. Almost every family had at one time or another plotted to seize control of Hogwarts, those plotters were dead and there plans nothing but ash.

Yet Hogwarts remained, and Harry intended to remember that lesson.

"It's rather daunting isn't it?" Despite Orion's attempt at sounding casual, his voice betrayed his awe.

"Smaller then I would have thought." Harry could feel Orion's incredulous look and he smiled.

"Get yer heads down or you'll pay for it." Harry automatically ducked his head and not a moment to soon; they entered into the side of a cliff face and drifted down a dark tunnel. A silent tension filled the air, and then Harry felt his boat rock sharply to one side.

Cries of surprise and fear echoed throughout the tunnel, but they were drowned out by the giant man's boom voice.

"Seize this interference in the affairs of Hogwarts, safe passage has been guaranteed to all those who ride upon these waters!" His voice echoed throughout the tunnel, but the shaking began to grow worse as deep somber voice rose from beneath the waves.

"Ideal threats half-blood, no longer shall we be bound by agreements to those who are dead in the ground." Sharper rocking and Harry spoke sharply mingling with two other voices.

"You attack the leader of the Pack, the Lord of House Black and in doing so violate treaties signed long ago, cease this attack at once or feel my wrath." Shouted Orion, his tone was cold as steel and promised his words were no idle threat.

"You attack the heir of Dragons, the scion of House Malfoy and break accords long honored by my house, end this assault or your blood shall be payment." Roared Draco Malfoy, his voice was like pure ice and Harry felt the certainty of destruction in his threat.

"You dare assault the Blackhawk's chosen, the Lord of House Potter and violate ancient pacts that were signed in blood, end this defiance or your existence is forfeited." Spoke Harry, his tone was soft but there was an underling power in his threat that went to the core of everything around him. Each of their voices mingled together as they spoke at once, but their threats were as distinct as they were.

The boats seized rocking almost at once, and a few tension filled seconds went by before the voice spoke again.

"Ignorance we plead our lords, the accords we shall honor and mercy we shall beg." Harry glared down at the water; whoever violated these treaties was going to pay.

"Be gone from these waters, your presence is no longer sanctioned here." Shouted the man giant, and Harry couldn't but be feel a bit disgusted.

It was obvious what had caused the attack to cease.

"So much for the vaunted neutrality of Hogwarts." Muttered Harry.

"Dumbledore is going to be furious when he hears about this, I very much doubt that anyone of us will get a chance at the revenge were all planning before he has his say." Harry could only agree in silence.


	8. Chapter Seven Part Two

**_A/N I seem to constantly apologize for late updates, but all I can say is that certain events in my life simply took over. I as always promise to finish my story, I maybe damned slow at it but I said before I will finish it. This chapter is short, and I'm sorry for that but I am so bursting with ideas right now that I felt a new chapter was needed to achieve the proper flow. So I post the second part of chapter seven and hope you will forgive me. Also I urge you to read carefully, while the chapter is short it does contain certain passages that can give clues about the future plot of the series. Anyway I'm interested in a beta, and apologize for the inevitable grammar errors. I'm posting this while jet lagged and thus I ask your pardon. So as always, enjoy._**

Chapter Seven Part Two

Part II

She was a tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a stern face, and the fact she had the representatives of three major families in front of here didn't seem to faze her a bit. Then again, Harry couldn't be surprised at that.

Any powers that they wielded meant nothing as soon as they passed through the two ancient oaken doors that were the entrance to Hogwarts. Harry, Orion, and Draco all knew this, but Harry doubted that it would stop anyone of them from at least trying to exert some type of control.

It was in their natures.

"Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, I am Professor McGonagall and I shall be one of your teachers here at Hogwarts, now there some things you need to know before being allowed to join the start-of-term banquet." Harry took this moment to look around at some of his other classmates, it was hard to get details since they were all so close together but he was surprised to catch a couple of girls looking at him with acute interest.

"Tragic hero's always get the girls." Orion muttered in his ear, and Harry couldn't help but smile.

"I'm quite sure that my fame, wealth, power, and downright animal magnetism having nothing to do with it." Orion looked gravely at Harry.

"I can assure you my friend that your fame is fleeting, your wealth questionable, your power is a delusion and the only magnetism you posses will attract animals of the barnyard variety." Harry did his best to control his laughter; he shot Orion a venomous look and went back to listening to McGonagall.

"You shall all line up in a straight line, and shall be called alphabetically to be sorted." Harry cursed Orion for making him miss her introduction.

"Now I shall return in exactly two minutes to take you the Sorting Ceremony, I expect you to be properly lined up at that time." Without a further word, she turned and strode back down the hallway.

"Orion you loudmouth git." Orion smiled innocently, but his eyes sparkled with mirth.

"Oh don't worry Harry; you only missed the usual rah-rah act like a good student speech." Harry rolled his eyes.

"You should show more respect your teachers." Harry turned to find Hermione glaring fiercely at Orion, who simply arched an eyebrow in response.

"I respect our teachers as much as the next person." Judging by her continued glare, Hermione didn't seem too convinced.

"Have the Black's fallen so far that they must explain themselves to ignorant mudbloods?" Orion's face-hardened as he turned to regard Malfoy.

"You speak out of turn Malfoy, and I begin to grow weary of it." Draco Malfoy stepped through the crowd and came to face Orion.

"I could care less Orion, and you would be wise to remember Switzerland before you again seek to threaten me." Harry had watched the exchange with silent contemplation, but his patience was beginning to wear thin.

"My memory is clear as ever Draco, your are treading the laws of neutrality very close here." With a slight smirk, Draco rolled his eyes in contempt.

"The Blacks may find themselves trembling before the vaunted neutrality of Hogwarts, but a Malfoy does not." Orion's response was cut short a familiar voice cut through the entryway.

"I can assure you Mr. Malfoy the neutrality laws are not a matter of debate or something you have a choice in obeying." Harry turned to find Professor McGonagall's pointed gaze aimed directly at Malfoy, her lips were thin with anger.

"Of course Professor I will follow the accorded rules; I was simply trying to explain..." He was cut off by a swift motion of McGonagall's hand.

"I don't care for whatever you have to say, we are late already so everyone form up." Malfoy's pale gray eyes flashed with anger but his features quickly settled, he knew his limits even if he tried to act as if he had none. Harry fell in behind Orion and Hermione behind him.

"Now follow me and be quiet." Harry felt a little amusement at Malfoy's dismissal but it was quickly replaced with a new sharp feeling of dread. He was here, it was finally beginning and he wasn't sure if he was prepared for it.

Stone halls greeted Harry as he walked through the entrance to Hogwarts, a soft glow from torches lit the way and Harry was against caught up in the history behind these stonewalls. This castle had seen many things in its two-thousand year existence, and Harry couldn't wait to find out what it held for him.

A few more minutes of walking, a couple more twists, turns, and they were presented with the preverbal light and the end of the tunnel. Silence rang throughout the Great Hall as the first years shuffled in, Harry's eyes skimmed down the various tables and students.

It was odd seeing so many teenagers, yet knowing that their ages sometime varied by up to six years. The student population was evenly split between muggleborns, and purebloods. A fact that Harry knew would annoy people like Malfoy, and the pureblood elite.

McGonagall stopped them a few feet in front of a stool which housed a shabby looking wizard's hat, it was patched, dirty, and ancient looking. While Professor McGonagall stepped up to receive a scroll from Professor Dumbledore, Harry focused his gaze on the ancient looking hat.

He wasn't sure why, but he sensed something very old, powerful, and threatening from that hat. He tried to shrug off his doubts, but a lingering feeling unease settled within in him. Dragging his gaze away from the hat, he settled on McGonagall who was preparing to speak.

"When I call your names you will step forward, and be sorted." Harry ignored the first person called; he was letting his eyes scan along the teachers table. Dumbledore was in an animated conversation with a tiny little wizard that had a full beard, a cheerful face, and could only be four feet high.

Beside the cheerful dwarf, looking teacher was a pale nervous looking man with a purple turban and twitchy eye. His entire body was trembling, and he was pointedly staring at his food. Beside the twitchy nervous looking teacher was a large barrel-chested man with thick arms and a baldhead.

Harry had the distinct feeling he was looking at the dueling teacher.

The only other teacher was sitting at the end of the table; he had long greasy hair, a hooked nose, and shallow skin. He was glaring menacingly at his food, and Harry had an ominous feeling looking at him. He didn't have time to ponder the source behind these feelings, for a name suddenly brought the entire hall to silence.

"Black, Orion." Harry watched Orion lazily stroll up to the hat, he was wearing a mask of general uncaring as he slipped onto the seat and dropped the hat onto his head. A tense silenced filled the Great Hall, several minutes passed and Harry began to notice that Orion was clutching his knuckles white.

A surprising betrayal of emotion.

"Ravenclaw." His observation was ended shortly as the hat announced its choice, a ripple of shock and confused looks ripped throughout the Great Hall.

A Black in Ravenclaw? Inconceivable, in fact it was the first of its kind.

Harry watched Orion slide silently off the stool, his face was unreadable as block of hard granite. He strolled over to the Ravenclaw table, sat down, and closed his eyes as if pondering a sudden problem. Orion remained the focus of attention as numerous other people were sorted.

Granger, Weasely, Patil, Thomas, Finnegan, and Brown all became Gryffindors.

Abbott. Bones, Finch-Fletchley, Boot, Chaplin all became Hufflepuffs.

Delacour, Brocklehurst, Lovegood, Torres, Patil, Benning all became Ravenclaw.

Malfoy, Nott, Goyle, Parkinson, Bulstrode, Moon, Zabini became Slytherins.

Harry noticed something that caused him to pause.

His name hadn't been called; McGonagall has pushed on as if he was not even there. With a final frown at the scroll, McGonagall looked out at Harry with a look of annoyance before speaking.

"Potter, Harry." Mutterings instantly filled the hall, Harry calmly stood and strolled up to the stool without so much of a look back. He picked the hat up with one hand, and defiantly dropped it unceremoniously onto of his head.

Harry felt… something.

"Ahh… like has it been since I've had the pleasure to probe the mind of a Potter... hmm yes your family always makes for an interesting reading." Harry distinctly didn't like the term "probe".

"I'm sure you've come across many intelligent minds in your two-thousand year existence." Harry thought he heard the equivalent of a "mental chuckle".

"Oh yes Lord Potter, I've encountered many glorious minds in my twenty-five hundred year existence." Harry felt himself frown.

"I was under the assumption Hogwarts was only two-thousand years old?" The hat ignored Harry as it spoke.

"Now let us see… as much as your family allows me of course… ah yes… a powerful mind you have dear Lord Potter.. oh my... powerful indeed." Harry was surprised by this comment, the hat sounded almost giddy.

"Your blood… it sings of ancient furies and ancient power…. the gifts of your family line no doubt, the ignorant would think that a fresh infusion in that line is a bad thing… be assured it's not Lord Potter." Harry felt his brow furrow; he was doing his best to commit everyone of the hat's words to memory. There was something underneath these comments, and he wanted to know what.

"I suppose I shall have to place you… ambitious aren't you Lord Potter… you seek to return your family to a place they have not been for a very longtime… you share many of the same traits with Salazar, but perhaps you also have sharp differences to…" Harry decided it might be time to interject himself in this one-sided conservation.

"Ravenclaw, I would like to be placed in Ravenclaw." There was a surprising amount of silence for a few seconds, Harry was starting to get a bit worried before then hat finally spoke.

"Ravenclaw…. you fear the betrayal in a pit of snakes… you fear the foolishness of a pride of lions…. you fear the mediocrity of a badger…. very well you shall have the honor of gracing the Lady's house, but before you go I leave you with a parting gift." Harry felt his own breath turn shallow, perspiration was beginning to slide down his face.

"The greatest folly the wizarding world has made is to assume that ancient gifts, ancient feuds, or ancient enemies have somehow been lost to the annals of time, no gifts have been lost by injections of new blood, ancient feuds were sworn upon the very life forces that course through your veins and thus can't be appeased by the ravages of time, and ancient enemies that would seek to destroy everything haven't been banished from this plane, they merely wait for the drums of war to beat again." Every word burned itself into Harry's mind, his suspicions were true, this hat was no mere hat and he had just been given a warning.

Or a prediction…

"You are living in a magnificent age Lord Potter, and I can barely wait to see what it brings and so I send you forth with my words and into RAVENCLAW!" The last word Harry barely noticed was screamed; he slipped the hat off his head and strolled over to the Ravenclaw table.

The Great Hall was again caught up in a hushed silence, different eyes tracked Harry as he took a beside a curious looking Orion Black. It seemed like the silence dragged on for several seconds before a regal looking Dumbledore cleared his throat signaling a call for attention.

"Welcome welcome back to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, I'm happy to see so many returning faces and happy to welcome so many new faces to this school, I just have a few announcements to make before you can begin feasting all on this delicious food." Harry was surprised at the genuine pleasure radiating from Dumbledore's features.

"I'm proud to announce the annual dueling tournament will be held as always at the end of October, followed by the traditional Halloween dance." Harry considered each of these things, the thought of a dueling tournament sent his blood pounding and caused his fingers to itch involuntarily. A dance though, that was going to take some more thinking on.

"Also I urge all students who wish to try out for Quidditch to contact their respective house's team captain, I also warn all students not to enter the Forbidden Forest, the neutrality of Hogwarts end's at the woods edge and you risk your very life to go in there." Harry had wondered about this, something in that forest two-thousand years ago had ejected the Founders, and forced them into a pact that limited Hogwarts influence in those ancient woods.

"One last warning, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side contains a very special object of power that Hogwarts has been asked to protect and so I urge all those who don't desire to die in a very painful way to leave the door and its contents alone." Harry found this statement ridiculous, Dumbledore was actually admitting the location of a powerful object in a room full of people whose very stature would be raised if they somehow managed to get a hold of it.

"Now I urge you all to eat, and be merry." Harry's thoughts were distracted by the appearance of hundreds of different types of food, pork chops, fried chicken, curry, a variable cornucopia of everything he had ever thought of eating.

"Well that was a rather subtle... declaration." Harry rolled eyes as Orion's remark, and began piling his plate with food.

"It was anything but subtle, then again I wonder why the so loud invite." Harry figured that's what it had to be, some invitation to try to take it.

"Oh well I'm sure it's perfectly secure, now I say I hadn't expected a delicate flower from the Delacours to be subjected to us barbaric Englishmen." Harry nodded as he peeked over for a casual look at Gabriel Delacour.

He found himself temporarily paralyzed by her, long silvery blond hair fell down in waves across her small back, she had a soft oval face with a small nose, mouth, and a set of striking round azure doe eyes. Her robes covered the true extent of her feminine charms, but still she sent Harry's blood pounding southward.

He felt the overwhelming urge to go try to impress her, show her how powerful he was and that she really wanted to be his no matter what. While he attempted to stand up he banged his hand on the table, and the sharp jolt of pain was a godsend to him.

He shook his head as if he had just been slapped, and did his best to regain control of his battered emotions. With an inborn discipline that had been strengthened over years of fending for himself, he shook of the tidal wave of emotions and opened his eyes back up.

"You ok there Harry?" Harry turned to find Orion caught between amusement and surprise.

"What in the hell is she?" Orion chuckled softly, and took a bite from a piece of steak.

"A veela or at least she had an ancestor of one, there magical creatures which cause blind desire in all wizards and err... female witches which swing toward that way." Harry felt his features harden, if he had been affected like that why the hell wasn't she being swamped?

"Selective targeting my dear Harry, she's beaming those pheromones of her at every major scion and lord in the Great Hall." Harry found this to be a bit more of an explanation, what annoyed him was that no one seemed to be visibly reacting to her, and he had.

"How kind of her to honor me so, perhaps you could pass the pumpkin juice?" As Orion handed her the pumpkin juice Harry mentally berated himself, he should have been on guard against something like this and he had let his guard drop.

"I'm rather surprised you were able to break through her charms Harry." Harry barely heard Orion's remark, his mind was focused on a swarthy looking sixth year prefect.

"Excuse me, your Emanuel the prefect aren't you?" Emanuel looked away from his conversation with a pretty auburn haired girl, and regarded Harry with a mix of awe and trepidation.

"Err... yes; can I help you with something?" Harry smiled, it was an utter façade but muggleborns unused to wizarding politics wouldn't be able to tell.

"I'd like to rent your room." Emanuel blinked in surprise, he then shook his head as if not sure he had heard correctly.

"Sorry, did you say you want to rent my room?" Harry nodded.

"You see I shall need some private quarters and the prefect bedroom you get would be very useful, I'm willing to pay fifty galleons a month as rent." Emanuel blinked, while the tradition of prefects giving up their rooms in the past was well established, paying rent was something new to him.

"Err... well I suppose." Harry smiled brilliantly, and Emanuel found himself feeling slightly disarmed by Harry's apparent good nature.

"Smashing, just tell me the password and I'll have your money delivered tomorrow morning." Emanuel blinked, and then whispered the information quickly to Harry.

"Thanks again." Harry turned back to find Orion looking at him with a raised eyebrow, Harry refused to meet Orion's gaze and went back to eating.

He knew that Orion thought him a fool for offering to pay for something Orion considered should be just given to him, but Harry had different ideas. He could have used his position to bully the room from Emanuel, by it seemed a lot easier to just be friendly and loose fifty-galleons a month. A pittance compared to the goodwill he just gained.

Catch more flies with honey then with vinegar he thought.

The rest of the dinner Harry remained deep in conversation with Orion about the actions that had occurred on the boat ride over, while they both agreed that they would like to seek revenge on whatever had attacked the boat, they were both confident Dumbledore would do something before either of them had a chance to even start.

Speaking of Dumbledore, the aging headmaster stepped forward with a relaxed smile on his face.

"I think it's safe to say that appetites have been appeased; now I believe that it's time for you students to retire to your respective dormitories, goodnight." As Harry and the other Ravenclaw's began to shuffle out, Harry found his mind drifting back to the words spoken by the ancient hat, and the warning which it had given.


	9. The Prize

Chapter 9

The Prize

The loud banging of metal on metal was the sound that woke Harry in the morning; he uselessly cursed the inanimate object and struggled to bury himself deeper in his blankets. Much to his dismay, he found out that sound can indeed travel through cotton and his fruitless attempt at hiding changed nothing.

With a sigh of resignation, Harry through the blankets off himself and reached over slapping the noisy alarm quiet. He took a moment to stretch before slipping onto the ground, and strolling over to the bathroom. The room was decorated with plush crimson carpets, various pieces of ancient solid oak furniture, and finally no portraits.

This meant no secret spy to run back to Dumbledore.

Harry wasn't naive; he knew the Headmaster would use every tool available to him to ensure the smooth running of his school. No ancient pact or protection ensured the privacy of a lord's bedchamber, and Harry knew that he would have to secure his room himself.

How he was going to do that was another matter.

For now he knew that must wait, as he began getting ready for his day at Hogwarts Harry found his mind drifting back to Gabrielle Delacour. He wasn't really surprised to see the daughter of one of France's most powerful and ambitious families at Hogwarts, rumors said that with Siblings in Dumstrang, Salem Witches Academy, Beauxbonts, and Red Dawn Academy the Delacour Patriarch was ensuring political alliances in every part of the globe.

The offspring of a Veela would be valuable wives and husbands; if they were even moderately intelligent then it would be a bonus. This thought reminded Harry how keenly important his position was, he was the last of the Potter line and his families future rested with him.

Shaking his mind to clear such thoughts, he finished getting ready and decided now was a good, a time as any to head to the Great Hall. With his wand securely fastened to a holster on his arm, Harry strolled downstairs and through the Ravenclaw common room which he decided to wait till later to study in detail.

Surprisingly Orion met him at the bottom of the staircase, he cast the handsome lord of the Black's a surprised eyebrow but said nothing.

It seems, he had found a friend.

He would have to consider seriously the implications of a friendship with Orion, but right now he just didn't want delve into that quagmire. So he decided for one day to accept the companionship of a person who was in every way that mattered his rival.

"Morning Orion, I see you've found time to prim yourself up this morning." Orion simply arched an eyebrow; he chose not to comment on the gel in Harry's hair or the fact that Harry had probably spent a good quantity of time making his own self presentable.

"We Blacks have a long legacy of satisfying the urges of witches all across the world, who am I to spit in the face of tradition?" Harry rolled his eyes at his friends brashness, each of them were powerful magical lords with huge amassed fortunes, and capable of altering the political landscape of the magical world with a simple vote.

Yet neither one of them had any idea about this mystery called… women.

"Yes Orion the Black's legacy with feminine trolls is legendary; now let's head for the Great Hall." Orion muttered a string of curses that Harry knew he would never use in polite company.

They strolled down the hall passage way to begin the trek toward the Great Hall, Harry's memory wasn't entirely positive because he had been groggy when he strolled into the common room but he was almost sure he knew where he was suppose to be going.

Ten minutes later he patted himself on the back, and took a seat down at the Ravenclaw table. Aside from a few haggard looking six and seventh years, they were the only ones at the table. Harry began to fill his plate with food as he awaited his morning post.

He wondered whatever happen to that snowy owl he had freed in Diagon Alley, it had never returned to the cottage and it was really to insignificant for him to spend time dwelling on. Only the promise of owl post sparked the memory for him, and much to his shock his question was about to be answered.

That same snowy while owl was flying through the Great Hall a roll of paper attached to her leg, when she landed in front of Harry and thrust her leg out at him. He couldn't help but be amused; he took the copy of the Daily Prophet from her, and began while skimming the articles.

Hedwig decided to extract her payment from the food on Harry's plate.

_Boy-Who-Lived Leads Charge against Witches Rights_

_Writes Hannah Dolsdon_

_Recently returned Harry James Potter led the charge in last month's session of the Wizengamot's vote on abortion rights for witches in the Magical Great Britain. A sneaky and backhanded attack that completely blind sided the magical community._

_Sources report that several large cash payments to various Wizengamot members, and a healthy mix of threats were the cause of the complete sudden shift of opinion. Naturally the Ministry of Magic is denying that any such bribery scandal would have taken place, but my sources tell me differently._

_Lady Devaro was forced to stand up to answer Mr. Potter's questions, an unusual move that caught the attention of several members of the Wizengamot. Despite answering each of Mr. Potter's questions with intelligence, and patience._

_Lady Devaro was openly laughed at, and scorned by some of the senior members of the Wizengamot. Mr. Potter's questions reached a climax when Lady Devaro made a passing remark on the late Lady Lily Potter's well known support for witches right's everywhere._

_Exploding in something that can only be described as a childish outburst, Mr. Potter condemned Lady Devaro for daring to speak his mother's name. In his chauvinistic arrogance, Tiberius Ogden admonished Lady Devaro in a vain attempt to calm the irate Potter._

_With the vote already pre-determined, a sham of a vote was held, and when Lady Devaro went to make an honest protest. She was assaulted by white robed goons the Ministry would like us to call Auror's, the reporter hopes that maybe his time at Hogwarts will teach Mr. Potter some manners and give him a chance to grow up._

_In doing so, he might one day continue his mother's legacy._

A proverbial slap in the face no matter how you looked at it, Harry contributed a lot of energy to keeping his expression neutral. He really didn't want to reveal that he had just been blindsided publicly by a newspaper, there were so much arrogance and disdain in the article.

He almost admired the gall of the person who wrote it, he knew that this was a blatant check to see where he stood. The Chang's were the principal owners of the Daily Prophet, and this article could only be used to test to see how Harry would respond.

He had no options of course, if he failed to respond then his family's assets, respect, and legacy would be considered open targets. He was just hoping that it didn't have to happen so soon, conceivably he was now going to have to take steps to actually destroy the lives of a number of people.

His stomach turned queasily, he would send a letter with instructions later.

"The Chang's rarely are so blatant, To Min Chang is usually far more subtle." Harry said nothing as he continued to scan the rest of the papers.

"Perhaps you would like some advice?" Harry replied with a scathing look.

"One day someone is going to have to explain to me why the more insane members of the witch's rights movement seem to always be at the microphone." Orion chuckled softly, and began buttering a piece of toast.

"The Devaro's were once a rising prominent family, but Tresdon Devaro refused to join Voldemort during the war and so most of their family was slaughtered, properties burned, so I imagine Lady Devaro sees this absurd witches rights cause as a stepping stone to more political power." Harry considered that information, and then had to consider why Orion was being so free with said information.

"Not a true believer?" Orion shrugged.

"Honestly I have no idea, but she acts like she is one and has gained some powerful connections because of it." Harry said nothing, if the Chang's and Lady Devaro had entered into some sort political alliance, he needed to know why.

"I'm sure all the fervor will die down soon enough, pass the butter please." Hedwig picked one last piece of bacon off his food, and then flew off.

"First years come see me to get your class schedules." Harry didn't even blink as the prefect walked by dropping his schedule off.

"Elemental testing first thing huh, how very nice." Harry skimmed over his class schedule, it seemed they had ritual magic, potions, and DADA with the Slytherins this morning, and dueling class the rest of the afternoon with every house.

More and more people were beginning to drift inside the Great Hall; chief among them was a very delicious looking Gabriele Delacour. Silvery blond hair pulled back in a French ponytail, her blue eyes seemed to catch the attention of everyone in the Great Hall.

Except Harry who stoically focused on his food.

"You are missing an exquisite view, my friend." Harry whose pride was still bruised from last night's little hormonal incident courtesy of some selectively fired Veela charms remained defiant.

"Beautiful women are a dime a dozen." It sounded hollow even to Harry, a girl like Gabrielle Delacour was the ones who sent those beautiful women crying home. She had the types of looks which could bring kingdoms down, and drive men to war.

"A dime for a dozen of her would be a damn fine deal." Harry didn't remark on the rather active Veela black market, lots of Veela didn't have the luxury of being protected by the Veela clans. Most of them were sold on the black market to the highest bidder, rumor has Lucius Malfoy completely controlled all that type of trade in southern England.

"Oh now this is going to be interesting." The humorous tone in Orion's voice should have been a warning, the delectable Delacour was making a beeline straight for Harry.

Why couldn't he just eat his food in peace!?

A completely fake smile on his face, Harry stood to meet Gabrielle.

"Gabrielle Delacour I presume?" Harry was finding out that aristocratic disdain was indeed not an inherent Malfoy trade.

"All I require from you Potter is to pay attention, my father has degreed that House Delacour will be taking over all dragon egg, magical core, and other assorted items operations in France and a one time payment of a thousand galleons is offered as compensation." Harry considered her thoughtfully, if this trend continued the Ministry should be barging in demanding back taxes.

"Lady Delacour let me speak plainly, tell your father that if he does anything rash that House Delacour will pay a very steep price." Harry then spun on his heel, and began a determined trot back to his room. He needed to crack off an e-mail to Laura immediately.

"I will convey your message Lord Potter." Technically the titles were not supposed to be used, but then again Harry didn't expect someone to declare in the middle of the Great Hall that they were hijacking some of his family's most prominent trade.

With Orion's attempt at blackmail, coupled with the Changs insult, and now this blatant attempt at provocation by the Delacours, Harry knew that his response was going to have to be swift and merciless. His swift stride dissuade anyone from trying to draw him into conversation, apparently he still did posses enough power to cower the average Hogwarts student.

It didn't do much to salve his wounded pride.

His families position was far more exposed then he had originally realized, and he was beginning to suspect that it was more his history with Voldemort then his families legacy that had stayed the hands of the other families for so long.

Apparently that hesitation was being lost rapidly; he progressed swiftly into his room with a single minded mission. He had already determined a course of actions, his mind gauging the potential risks involved with them, and deciding which ones he would pursue.

Pulling out the laptop and feeling embarrassed at his horrible typing skills, he began typing out a letter to Laura.

_Dear Lana,_

_My situation has just become far more vulnerable then I had originally believed, you have obviously read the article in the Daily Prophet. I'm afraid that is not the worse of it, Orion Black has demanded I turn over my control of the northern docks to him. Gabrielle Delacour has informed that her father intends to take over all of my families French operations too._

_This is unacceptable._

_I'm not in a position to yet wage any type of conflict; our families standing forces are seemly non-existent and while you've found me several agents that is hardly enough to wage a war against three of the most powerful families in Western Europe._

_I will not be pushed around though; examples must be made with great swiftness and in relatively the same amount of time as the other. So I want you hereby conduct the following operations, I expect to see the initial results in the Daily Prophet within two days._

_You are also to increase the amount of forces available to me, you know my conditions but I want you expend more resources if needed be. I will be sending you an e-mail soon with a series of financial investments which I hope will begin to restore my family's former position._

_I trust you realize that anonymity is the foundation for all of the following operations, blood oaths are not a negotiable factor._

_Sincerely_

_Harry Potter_

Detailing the operations he wanted her to undertake took some time, and by the time he had properly encrypted the e-mail he was striding back toward the Great Hall. He could not be seen to be running through the hallways like a headless chicken, it would be most undignified.

Dignified or not, a few more minutes he would run regardless.

He finally strolled into the Great Hall, the tables had disappeared and waiting silently was a large group of students. Evenly divided among their houses, Harry strolled over to join Orion who hadn't failed to notice his return and was watching him with a peculiar wariness.

"Everything well I hope?' Harry only smiled in response; any further conversation was cut off by the arrival of Professor Dumbledore, who was followed by a shallow greasy haired sharp nose professor Snape. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled merrily as he regarded the group of students; Snape looked like he would be more interested in poisoning them.

"Welcome first years to Hogwarts, many of you know that witches and wizards all have natural elemental abilities and to determine those abilities will require us to provide you with a special potion." Harry watched with amusement as a dozens of people shifted uneasily.

Scions from so many prominent magical families being asked to take an untested potion, there paranoia level must be skyrocketing presently. Harry knew that the neutrality rules would protect him, but he did see the reason for such uneasiness.

Who knew what was slipped into that potion?

Harry had a sneaking suspicion that Dumbledore knew exactly how certain people would be feeling, and was enjoying every minute of it.

He admitted, he was to.

"You know I do believe I can almost feel the tension visibly rising in the room." Orion's tone was light, but with a hint of amusement.

"Now why would people here be worried?" Orion and Harry shared an amused glance, as Snape and Dumbledore began handing out the crystal phials of an indigo colored potion.

When Snape reached them, Harry found himself on the receiving end of a dark set of menacing orbs currently residing in Professor Snape's head. If Harry was any other student he might have been intimidated, but he had dealt with worse.

His dreams had long been haunted by a pair of furious demonic crimson eyes, and compared to those Snape was as threatening as a puppy.

Harry downed the contents with one swift motion, and waited for further instructions from Professor Dumbledore; Orion had eyed the potion warily and grudgingly downed the contents.

"You will soon see color surrounding your hands; this is merely a temporary effect and will allow us to see what elemental abilities come naturally to you." Harry watched his hands curiously, in took a few moments before a faint grayish outline began circling his hand.

He knew that signaled his own natural element was air, but what concerned him was that he wasn't seeing anymore. Everyone else in the room was seeing at least two or three elements, but Harry was firmly staying with one.

He said nothing as he waited patiently for another color to appear, but he knew some how that another wasn't going to appear. He was rather unsure of how to feel about that, it meant that he had the least amount of natural elemental talent in the room.

"Well Potter I would have never expected someone of your stature to be so limited." Snape moved along while a few soft chuckles echoed throughout the room.

Harry said nothing, he knew that Snape was merely trying to bait him into loosing points and he also knew that this was going to becoming a recurring trend. While Snape seemed to loathe Harry's very existence was a mystery to him but he decided at the moment he really didn't care why.

"Excellent, now that you've all seen what powers you posses you will be receiving special notices soon on which Hogwarts teach will personally mentor you in developing your powers." Harry sincerely hoped that he didn't have Snape, he knew his patience was now inexhaustible, and he was afraid might try to stuff his wand somewhere distinctly unpleasant.

"Now all you can be off to your next classes." Harry watched as the color around his hands faded, and he quickly strolled out of the Great Hall. He really wasn't in the mood to endure any snide remarks, and judging by how everyone seemed to be trying to extort him lately, someone would demand he hand over his wand for a galleon.

His next glass was ritual magic with the Slytherins, he really didn't look forward to sharing a class with them but he figured this was something he would just have to learn how to accept. He then stopped as he found himself feeling very foolish.

How did he get to the ritual magic classroom?

* * *

He was one the later arrivals to the classroom, finally resorting to ask an older student for directions before setting of at something resembling a hasty stride. He ignored the whispers at his appearance; his single elemental ability was already probably generating overzealous reports to the various heads of families.

Scions eager to show their amateurish political skills would probably write a five page letter filled with speculation, conjecture, and very little fact. It was a small comfort to Harry, the truly important families would have trained their respective heirs better.

He settled for a seat firmly in the back of the class, it was partly to dissuade glances at him, and so he could just simply enjoy class. Orion was the last arrival, he found a seat beside Harry, but there wasn't anytime for there to say anything before Madam Zoroni appeared.

She was a small woman, barely five feet using a walking cane made of ash, her movements were slow and measured but when she looked up to stare at the class, Harry felt himself sit up and take notice. Her hair was pulled back into a stern grey bun, sagging facial features did little to dissuade some from perhaps mistakingly believing this woman was frail.

Her eyes told a different tale.

Cobalt blue, there was a keen intelligence and solid iron in this old globes and Harry found himself wondering just what type of power this woman commanded.

"I am Madam Zoroni, I've practiced my art for almost a century and thus I have earned certain things." Her voice was low, but Harry never strained to hear here.

"You will speak only when given proper leave to do so, I will not tolerate any house or petty family rivalries in my class room and I promise the first person who tests that condition will regret it." Harry watched as several people, including Orion tensed up.

He truly doubted they liked be told what to do by someone they saw simply as a schoolteacher.

"Ritual magic can be a very dangerous, and I've seen students that have been killed or worse because they thought to test the limits I imposed upon them in a fit of teenage rebellion." Harry was curious to what exactly could be worse then death, but something told him that perhaps he really didn't want to know.

"I am a mistress of the eighth circle, does anyone know what that means?" Harry's hand shot up, it was purely a reflex action and he cursed himself a second later.

Because those cobalt eyes had settled on him.

"It signals that you've mastered the ability to use the eighth ring in a summoning circle?" She eyed him carefully for a few seconds, before nodding slightly.

"Correct Mr. Potter, but only the arrogant would claim to ever truly master an art." Harry found himself nodding in agreement.

"There are many rituals that have been used by witches and wizards for hundreds of years, but most generally must create the rituals for themselves, a self-made ritual increases the potency and effects might by a very large margin." Harry didn't even bother to take notes, he had an enchanted quill in his bag that was copying down every single world she said.

The lesson went along fine, she spent most of the time lecturing about the very basics of ritual magic and the ethical standards that should be exercised. Harry failed to volunteer any more answers after, but his attention never wavered as he soaked up the information like a sponge.

When she dismissed class with a rather hefty research paper, Harry found himself wondering what his next class was going to be like. He really wasn't looking forward to a class with Snape, and judging by his current trend of luck, the potion master might try poison him.

He found that Orion had stepped in alongside him, he didn't even bother to acknowledge his presence.

"I hear Snape is a real conversationalist, much in the realm of Attila the Hun." Harry felt a small chuckle escape his lips, he cursed inwardly as he saw Orion's triumphant smile.

"Bastard." The both chuckled, as they descended down the steps leading into the dungeons.

* * *

"I love the decor." Orion's tone was so casual that Harry barely caught the sarcasm, the dungeon was utterly without any type of comfort to it. There were desks, a board, and the supplies, but it was a distinctly clinical atmosphere, much like a hospital.

Harry and Orion took a seat in the back of the class, and silence was chosen by mutual consent. Soon everyone else had begun to fill inside, but the chatter inside the room was less then usual. The clinical effects of the potion room was having a damper effect on some of spirits.

The room was evenly dived among house, and family lines. If they had wanted to Orion and Harry could have sailed to the front of Ravenclaw, but Harry really had no interest in doing such a thing, something told him that he and Snape were about to begin a very long road, but the journey didn't feel like a pleasant one to him.

A loud bang smashed the silence of the room as the potions master strolled in, his dark cloak billowing behind him as he turned his sharp gaze over the glass.

"I am Professor Severus Snape, my job is to instill upon you the skills need for potion making, I have little doubt that most of you blunder heads will fail to properly show the deference and respect for my art, there is no silly wand waving in here and if I see any, the consequences will be most... unpleasant." His eyes slowly descended upon Harry, his expression revealed nothing.

"Potter, tell me the purpose of the Magi Root, and where it can be found?" Harry's mind instantly went blank for a second, before he responded.

"The Magi Root is a magical energy inhibitor, it slows the natural flowing of energy throughout a magical beings body, I believe they are found only in great rarities in the Forbidden Forest." Snape said nothing, but he did turn his attention to the young lord of the Malfoy's.

"Draco, what is an elemental fire stone?" Malfoy's tone was laconic in his response.

"A stone that if ingested in powered form would give the user a temporal boast to their elemental ability." Snape nodded in agreement.

"Ten points to Slytherin." This set the tone for the rest of the class, Snape would at random ask Harry a series of ever increasingly difficult questions, and give Malfoy only ones of moderate difficulty. Harry was starting to wonder if he was in some sort of verbal duel, before Snape dismissed the class with a six page report and a glare.

* * *

Orion was look surprisingly thoughtful as they made their way toward the Great Hall, Harry was a bit curious about what was on his mind, but he decided to keep his inquiries to himself, less they be forced being put in the uncomfortable position and shift back to their respective social rolls.  
Instead he took time to admire the various works of art, the suits of armor, and the general ambiance that Hogwarts projected through every slab of stone. There was so much history in these walls, and it had an awe inspiring quality all it's own.

"If these walls could talk." Harry nodded to Orion.

"Most likely they would have some very interesting stories about prominent figures in today's magical society." Small grins slipped across their faces, and for a brief second they didn't look like their respective positions as magical lords but kids sharing a joke.

By the time they had strolled into the Great Hall, there respective masks had been appropriately restored. Orion wore the dismissive aristocratic face well, Harry settled for simple stoicism in his features. He didn't grow up with the various primming required to master certain facial expressions.

A blessing in disguise perhaps.

The chatter throughout the Great Hall was surprisingly quiet considering how many people were visibly around, Harry and Orion took a seat at the far end of the table, and were so joined by a platinum blond hair girl with silvery eyes, and a dazed look on her face, her dreamy eyes soon came to rest on Harry, who was intrigued by the entire encounter.

"Your Harry Potter, Lord of the Potters, Chosen of the Blackhawk, and the Boy-Who-Live aren't you?" Harry blinked, he idly wondered if this was another sort of political game, but he didn't recall the Lovegood's being anything but a small wizarding family.

"Yes, and your Luna Lovegood." Luna smiled brilliantly, and nodded.

"So your not as arrogant as your social position would suggest, I'm glad to know that Mr. Roper the Narggle was wrong." Harry blinked on confusion, who was Mr. Roper, and what in the seven Hades was a Narggle?

"Thanks I guess." Luna nodded happily, she turned her curious gaze on Orion.

"You have a lot of lofty titles to don't you?" Harry about spit out the pumpkin juice he was drinking, he did his best to cover his laughing with a cough as Orion struggled to formulate an answer.

"Yes the House of Black has many great honors, I thank you for showing proper deference." The sarcastic tone of Orion's remark might have been seen as a warning to anyone else, Luna seemed oddly unaffected.

"Your welcome Orion." She then turned her gaze back to Harry, as he tried to eat before dueling class started.

"Fate has placed our strings on a parallel path Harry, I hope we don't crash." As eerily as she had come, Luna drifted off toward the Great Hall exit with a smile.

"Well that was strange." Harry remained silent, something about Luna struck him as odd. She was just by all accounts completely rude, and disrespectful to two of the most prominent wizarding families in Western Europe. Entire families had been killed for less.

"Unusual girl." Harry cast an appraising eye at Orion, but settled for simply nodding.

"I do think it's about time for dueling class." Harry noted to that all the older students had departed, and the various houses were on dividing up amongst themselves. Harry quickly finished off a piece of lamb, then stood up and strolled over to the Ravenclaw, accompanied by Orion of course.

He barely had, time cast a friendly smile to Gabrielle Delacour before the gnomish charm Professor Flitwick came happily bounding in. He cast a friendly smile to all the students, before lightly tapping his wand to his throat, in apparent attempt to amplify his voice.

"Welcome students to Magical Dueling 101, I'm Professor Flitwick and I will have the honor of teaching this class as you make your way through Hogwart's." Harry idly wondered if this class was going to be a complete waste of time, before chiding himself for not looking past the surface.

Just why would Dumbledore put tiny, exceedingly gentle Professor Flitwick in charge of a dueling class with a bunch of upstart scions who had been trained for battle since inception. Harry didn't know, but question left him regarding the tiny professor with suspicious eyes.

"Today you will begin training for the annual Hogwarts dueling championship, and of course it's very special prize this year." Harry furrowed his brow.

"What special prize?" Asked Ron Weasely, Flitwick didn't seem to mind his outburst at all.

"Why, the Sorcerer's Stone of course."

* * *

_A/N Nope I'm not gone, and the Jaded Series has not vanished into the endless waste of incomplete stories. I'm sorry to say a very personal tragedy drew me away from my writing for a long time, but now I'm back. I'm also proud to say that the first year of Jaded Series is done sitting in my hard drive as we speak, I will maintain a regular posting from now on on each Sunday. Also for those who might be uncomfortable because I delve into such topics as abortion, religion, or anything. I promise I'm going to be getting into a lot more so you might just want to slowly back away from my story, from the rest of you I'm sorry it took so long but I'm back and ready to write.  
_


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